D4 Scooby-Doo! Le Fantôme dans le Place des Arts
by wsdsrdbw4096
Summary: Sequel to both Showdown in Tumbleweed County! and my FictionPress story The Final Calculus Problem. The gang and the other mystery solvers travels to Montreal, Canada to take part in a music competition, where they cross paths with Garfield Wu. Phantom appearances at the concert venue complicates preparations for the competition. Please read and review!
1. First impression and on the Canadian

**Author's Note: There has been instances where after I've begun work on a story, the dryness of the story's plot results in me losing inspiration to continue with it.**

 **This installment, in its initial form of the gang travelling to Canada to testify in a court trial, is one of such stories, and after some thoughts, I've decided to revamp this next installment of my Dimension Four series.**

 **This revamped story, originally titled** _ **D4 Scooby-Doo! Riddle of le Chevalier dans le Places des Arts,**_ **takes place four months prior to the events of Season 1 of _The New Scooby-Doo Movies_ and is a second rewrite of the 2013 DTV film _Stage Fright_ , only that the gang, in addition to the several other Hanna-Barbera mystery-solvers, participates in a music contest with the setting in Montreal, where they cross paths with my fictional alter ego Garfield Stephenson Wu.**

 **For more information on Garfield Stephenson Wu, please go to my FictionPress Profile (Link provided at the top my Profile here) and check out his origin story, titled _D4 Garfield and The Secret of the School Library!_**

 **As with that story, I want to note that the Garfield in this story is my OC Garfield Stephenson Wu, NOT his namesake: The title character of the comic strip _Garfield_. This is also the reason why this story isn't placed in the _Scooby-Doo_ and _Garfield_ crossover category.**

 **Another thing to note is that given that this story takes place in Montréal, there's going to be a great deal of French being spoken here.**

 **Considering my limited knowledge in the language, the dialogues where the sentences are in _italic_ mean that the character is speaking in French.**

 **I don't own _Scooby-Doo_ and any of the other groups of meddling kids. Hanna-Barbera Productions and Warner Bros. does.**

* * *

Chapter 1: A first impression and on the _Canadian_

 _August 28, 1971_

The story began, well, late at night at the Place des Arts in Montréal, Canada. The concert venue was presently closed for the night, though it was clear that there were some activities going on in there.

And no, the activities aren't related to preparations for an opera performance or a concert.

Rather, at present, the people inside the concert hall are hard at work at something that doesn't have anything to do with music or concerts.

The scene then shifts to the main hallway of the concert venue, where the silent night was shattered by the sound of running and screaming.

Zooming closer, the source of the running and screaming was revealed to be none other than Shaggy and Scooby, who were at present running from a ghost chevalier who has been haunting the concert hall.

"Gangway!" Shaggy exclaimed as he and Scooby sprinted down the hallway towards the main reception room.

Over at the main reception room, Fred, Velma and Daphne were in the process of doing the finishing touches of a trap, and Shaggy and Scooby's screams from the main hallway was a clear indicator that the duo had baited the chevalier.

"The trap's all set, girls." Fred said as he gently yanked the rope in front of them briefly to test its tension.

"That's good, because Shag and Scooby are fast approaching at nine o'clock, Freddie." Daphne nodded. "We better get out of the way before they arrive and spoil the surprise."

"Definitely." Velma agreed as the trio quickly hid behind a nearby bust, in time to see Shaggy and Scooby engaged in a lung-busting run with the ghost chevalier in close pursuit!

"Like, I swear that chevalier doesn't understand a word we're saying, Scooby!" Shaggy exclaimed. "He doesn't respond to our demands to _arrêtez_."

"Ri know, Raggy." Scooby nodded as he continued running. "Ri know."

The chevalier continued to chase the duo until they managed to duck down underneath the rope, something which the chevalier couldn't see as its eyesight was blocked by the closed visor on the helmet.

Before the chevalier knew it, it tripped over the rope and fell over, in time for the rope to activate the net above.

From their hiding spots, the gang looked on as the net swooped down and caught the chevalier like a scoop that managed to swoop down and get some ice cream.

The chevalier, trapped and tangled in the net, struggled to break free to no avail as the gang emerged from their hiding spots.

"Yes!" Fred exclaimed as he and Shaggy high-fived each other. "We've got him!"

"And Garfield's pretty good with the timing, too!" Shaggy added as they heard sirens coming from outside. "The police are just a couple blocks away."

In mentioning Garfield, Shaggy was referring to their friend Garfield Stephenson Wu, who happened to be visiting Montréal when they were dragged into the mystery of the ghost chevalier haunting the Place des Arts, which also came as the Opéra du Québec was making preparations for an upcoming performance of Verdi's _Macbeth_.

The six spent the past day working together to solve the case, with Garfield also updating the local police on the progress of the investigation.

Garfield later left the gang to go fetch the police once they came to a conclusion regarding the identity of the culprit behind the ghost chevalier's haunting, with the intention of returning to the concert venue just as the gang captures the ghost chevalier.

* * *

A short while later, the gang were gathered in the main reception room of the concert venue with the chevalier handcuffed and restrained by two police officers on each side.

However, while a total of five police officers had responded to Garfield's update, Garfield was not among the group of officers arriving at the concert venue.

Noting Garfield's absence, Fred walked over to the police sergeant, who was issuing orders to the officers at the scene.

The sergeant finished issuing his orders in time to see Fred walk over towards him, and he paused and turned towards the blonde.

"Monsieur Jones, I presume?" The sergeant asked with a thick French accent in his voice.

"That's me, Sergeant." Fred nodded. "I was just wondering where our friend Garfield Wu is at."

"Oh, Monsieur Wu's on his way here with the detectives." The sergeant replied. "They had to leave the station last to go through the documentation related to the case, but they shouldn't take to long to join us."

The minute the sergeant finished, they all spotted a couple more cars pulling into the front parking lot, and in no time Garfield emerged from the first car, followed by the two investigators.

Detective Lieutenant Jean-François Clouseau and his partner Detective Sergeant Gérard Godbout both didn't look impressed one bit as they arrived at the scene with Garfield leading the way, and they both glared when they spotted the handcuffed chevalier.

"Ici votre Chevalier de Place des Arts, Lieutenant." (Here's your Knight of the Place des Arts, Lieutenant.) Garfield presented the chevalier as they stopped in front of him.

"Oui, je peux voir cela, Monsieur Wu." (Yes, I can see that, Mr. Wu.) Clouseau nodded as he and Godbout both take a closer look at the chevalier before they turned to the gang and speaking in English, the lieutenant added, "I have to hand it to you kids for taking down the culprit of this mess here in les Place des Arts."

"Glad that we could help, Lieutenant." Velma adjusted her glasses before gesturing towards the chevalier and continued, "You see, our man behind the armour plates of the chevalier adopted the disguise and took advantage of the legend of the chevalier roaming the grounds of the concert venue to cover up his involvement in staging the thefts of countless artifacts across the city and disguising them as props used for operatic performances."

"Right, right." Clouseau nodded. "The thefts also came as the Opéra du Québec has found itself facing a budget crunch in spite of being granted a significant sum for its budget by the provincial government, and you kids were key in uncovering evidence that someone in the organization was embezzling funds."

"Now all needs to be done is to unmask le chevalier." Godbout said as he gestured at the chevalier.

"Of course." Fred nodded before he proceeded to pull the helmet off the chevalier, revealing a man who they recognized as the prop master of the Opéra du Québec, Milton Rempel.

"Mr. Milton Rempel, just as we suspected." Daphne said in recognition.

"Yes indeed." Clouseau narrowed his eyes before he continued, "Monsieur Rempel, _you are under arrest for embezzlement, grand larceny and conspiracy to commit fraud. You have the right to remain silent and seek counsel_."

" _And I_ _would've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids and that_ chien!" Rempel gritted his teeth as he glared at the gang while he was being taken away by the police officers.

As the gang watched the prop master being taken away by police, Daphne turned to Fred and remarked.

"I don't know what Monsieur Rempel was saying, but it sounds like he was using the usual 'meddling kid' line." She said.

"If that's really the case, then that's the first time we've been referred to as such in French." Fred nodded.

"Wouldn't be the first time for me." Garfield shrugged. "Oh, well. Another case closed, guys."

"Couldn't have make it without your help, Garfield." Velma said. "In fact, your insight in French was helpful in helping us decipher the accounting figures we've found in Rempel's office, along with the French news articles."

"It was my pleasure." Garfield smiled. "Though I was under the impression that you're familiar with many languages, Velma."

"At present, I'm only familiar with the Germanic languages." Velma replied. "Just started my studies in the Romantic languages this past winter, so hopefully, by next summer, my level of French should be on par with yours."

"Ah, okay." Garfield nodded thoughtfully. "Either way, are you guys enjoying your stay in Montréal so far?"

"After all of this, you can say that this city has left quite the impression on us." Fred replied.

"Yeah." Shaggy agreed. "Like, and all of this came just as Scoob and I get to try out this 'poutine' thing we've heard so much about when we were walking around the city."

"I'm sure you guys are gonna get the chance to try some poutine before you guys return to the States." Garfield patted Shaggy in the back, earning some laughs from the others.

Shaggy chuckled before Garfield added, "By the way, did you know that there's a commune called Norville in the Normandy region of France?"

"I did not know that." Shaggy replied as he arched his eyebrows.

Garfield nodded. "Thought you'd be interested to know that you're sharing a name with a French commune, Shag."

"It's good to know." Daphne said as they all nodded thoughtfully.

* * *

 _August 30, 1971_

That morning, the gang and Garfield arrived at Windsor Station in Montréal to take the train back to their respective homes.

While Garfield is due to take the CP Rail-operated local Montréal-Montebello-Ottawa train home, the gang will be riding on the CP Rail-operated _Canadian_ to Vancouver, which will then be followed by a transfer onto the Amtrak-operated _Cascades_ for the trip to Seattle and then the _Coast Starlight_ to Los Angeles.

"Kinda a shame Amtrak decided not to retain the D&H _Laurentian_ train service." Garfield remarked as they made their way down the pedestrian bridge over the platforms and tracks. "You guys could have taken it to New York, transfer onto the _George Washington_ and get to Chicago, and then transfer onto the _Super Chief_ to Los Angeles."

"Well, at least we get to have a direct train ride across the continent without the need for those transfers, Garfield." Velma shrugged as they stopped by the stairs leading down towards Platforms 7 and 8. "And besides, the scenery of the _Canadian_ is beautiful, especially for the section through the Rocky Mountains."

"True." Garfield nodded thoughtfully before he looked down the stairs and spotted the pair of CP Rail Budd Diesel Rail Cars idling at the Platform 7 tracks.

Noticing the sign above Platform 7 reading "Ottawa via Lachute, Montebello", Garfield turned back towards the gang and then added, "Well, my ride's over there, gang, so I'd better be off."

"It's been fun hanging out with you, Garfield." Daphne smiled as she went to embrace Garfield.

"Tell me about it." Garfield smiled back, and after the embrace, he turned to Velma and added, "It's been a pleasure working with you guys, especially regarding the chevalier at the Place des Arts."

"I can say the same to you, Garfield." Velma shook his hand.

"Take care of yourself, Garfield." Fred smiled.

"I will, and same to you guys." Garfield patted Fred's back. "I'll be in touch."

Turning to Shaggy and Scooby, he then added, "Shaggy, Scooby, as usual, it's been a great pleasure."

"The pleasure's ours, Garfield." Shaggy smiled as he and Scooby took turns shaking Garfield's hand.

"Rindeed rit is." Scooby agreed.

Smiling, Garfield then made his way down the stairs to the platform as he added, "I'll be in touch, gang."

The gang all nodded back as they watched Garfield made his way down the stairs to Platform 7, where he swiftly handed his train ticket to the ticket inspector at the train door before being allowed onto the Budd Diesel Rail Car.

It was then that the _Canadian_ , which was idling at Platform 1, sounded its horn, at which point Fred turned to the others and he said, "Well, our ride's here, gang."

The others all nodded as they quickly made their way down the bridge, rushed down the stairs and made their way to the _Canadian_.

As the ticket inspector allowed the gang to board the _Canadian_ , the Budd Diesel Rail Car sounded its horn and as the gang looked on, the Ottawa-bound local train slowly began to pull out of Platform 7.

A short while later, as the _Canadian_ was chugging along the CP Rail Westmont Subdivision, passing by the Montréal West Station, the gang saw the local train carrying Garfield slowly pulling out of the station platform and upon picking up speed, briefly caught up with the _Canadian_ before turning northward at the junction and continued its way towards Vimont, Lachute and Montebello.

Watching the local CP Rail train disappearing in the distance, the gang then turned and relaxed on their seats as they look forward to the three-day journey.

* * *

 _May 12, 1972_

Fast forward to almost a year later, where that afternoon, the eastbound _Canadian_ was chugging along the CP Rail M&O Subdivision as it pulls out of Hudson Station, almost an hour away from its destination, Windsor Station in Montréal.

On board the train sat the members of Mystery Inc., who are all eagerly waiting for the train to arrive in Montréal.

Also onboard the train were members of the Neptunes, the Chan Clan, the Cavemen group and the Funky Phantom's group.

"It sure was interesting that we're all going to take part in this music contest in Montreal with the others, gang." Fred remarked as they watched the scenery go by.

"Indeed." Velma agreed. "It's gonna be interesting to see how this contest goes when the participants are mainly four, five groups of meddling kids."

"You're telling me." Daphne smiled. "As a matter a fact, I can't wait to see the disappointed look on Shelly's face when we clinch first prize in the contest."

As the redhead was speaking, the others can see the competitiveness in her eyes at the mention of Shelly Sandez of the Neptunes.

Shaggy chuckled as he shared looks with Scooby.

"Sounds like Daph's gonna do something in our act to knock Shelly's socks right off, Scoob." Shaggy said before elbowing the Great Dane and added, "Eh?"

"Reah." Scooby chuckled. "Re-he-he-he-he-he!"

Fred and the girls only grinned at the remark.

"Just wait and see, guys." Daphne said as her smile turned into a smirk. "When we finally clinch first prize, Shelly is sure gonna regret pulling that prank on me the other night."

In mentioning the prank, Daphne was referring to the prank Shelly had pulled on her while the _Canadian_ was speeding through the Rocky Mountains on the first night.

As with most of the passengers on the train that night, the gang were sound asleep in their sleeping quarters.

Their sleeping quarters was basically an open section, where their daytime seats are converted into berths with beds for the night, and for that particular night, Shaggy and Fred were sleeping on one side of their quarters and the girls on the other while Scooby had set up his own hammock and slept in the middle of their sleeping quarters.

As the gang snoozed away for the night, Shelly, who clearly wasn't having any of Daphne's friendliness towards Biff, Clam, Bubbles and Jabber earlier that day, decided to get even by sneaking over to Daphne with a black marker in hand.

What followed was that Daphne, who had slept in the bottom berth that night, spent almost the whole morning in the washroom trying to get the black marker doodles washed off her face the next day.

And it wasn't without the other passengers noticing the doodles on her face, which led to some silent giggles behind her back as she rushed her way to the washroom when Fred told her what she has gotten on her face.

Since that prank, Daphne and Velma has swapped places with Daphne sleeping on the top berth in the nights that followed, and the embarrassment from the doodles on her face gave the redhead the resolve to get even.

"Anyways, now that we're almost at our destination, gang, we should focus our energies on preparing the finishing touches of our act for the contest." Fred announced.

"Yeah." Daphne nodded as they all looked towards Shaggy and Scooby. "I hope you guys are fully prepared for our act."

"Like, don't worry, Daph." Shaggy waved his hand dismissively. "Scoob and I got everything covered."

Then, nodding at his guitar case, he added, "We've, like, rehearsed for our act for like a hundred times, guys. There's no way we can't make it through the contest without getting stage fright."

"Maybe, but if we wanna clinch first place, we would definitely wanna double down on our efforts." Daphne said. "The last thing we need is Shelly goading us over them getting first place while we end up in second."

"And I'm sure we will when you put that pencil neck in charge of planning for the music for your act." A voice said, and the gang turned and Daphne narrowed her eyes when its source revealed itself to be none other than Shelly Sandez of the Neptunes.

With a smirk on her face, Shelly added, "When I hypnotize the audience and judges with my vocals, you guys are going down!"

"Oh, I highly doubt that." Daphne placed her hands on her hips. "Shag's quitar skills are gonna supercharge us into first place."

"Oh, yeah?" Shelly folded her arms.

As Shelly and Daphne continued with their back and forth bickering, the others shared looks with each other.

"Oh, boy." Velma remarked.

"You can say that again." Shaggy agreed before shrugging and added, "Oh, well. I sure look forward to having fun while getting around in the City of Festivals, guys."

"With the tons of food in the City of Festivals you and Scooby have yet to try out, Shaggy, I'm not surprised." Velma adjusted her glasses.

At the mention of "food", both Shaggy and Scooby's eyes bulged in excitement, which was something Shelly picked up as she and Daphne bickered.

"And it's gonna be a miracle if the city doesn't starve with those two walking appetites on the loose." Shelly weighed in.

Then, turning towards Daphne, she added, "See? That's why you guys are going down! Your music manager would be too busy horsing around the city and eating while missing out on practice, so it's a foregone conclusion that we're gonna win first place."

"With Clamhead and Jabber's appetites, I could really say the same thing for you guys." Another voice joined in, and the group turned and saw Stanley and Henry.

"Clamhead and Jabber aren't gonna be the stars of our performance in the contest." Shelly snapped as she turned towards Henry. "I am, not to mention that your clan has nothing much to offer."

Then, with a smirk, she then added, "Not unless your clan somehow decides to mix music with Bruce Lee."

Henry and Stanley shared looks with each other, then the latter smirked, "Maybe. When that happens, expect your socks to get knocked off literally."

As the bickering continued, the scene shifted towards outside the train as it pulls out of Dorval Station, with the city's skyline in the background.

Little did each of the group realize that there was a surprise in store awaiting them as the train eventually pulled into the platform of Windsor Station fifteen minutes later.

* * *

In that same time, over at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, which is located a few blocks away from Windsor Station and is part of the Place des Arts complex, the staff was continuing with preparations for the music competition.

Several technicians were busy testing the equipment while others were getting the stage cleaned up, during which an assistant manager can be seen hurriedly walking past the seats with a clipboard in hand.

" _Make sure the stage is spotless!_ " The assistant manager demanded as he pointed towards the stage before turning towards the group of technicians and added, " _And for heaven's sake, if this feedback continues, one of us is gonna go deaf sooner or later!_ "

The assistant manager then turned and looked around, frustration evident in his voice, as he added, "Ou-est Jean-Phillippe?" (Where is Jean-Phillippe?)

As an aide rushed over towards him, he added, " _He was supposed to have the decorations ready an hour ago!_ "

"Calmez-vous, Monsieur Blaney." (Calm down, Mr. Blaney.) The aide urged. " _Yelling and being angry isn't gonna get us anywhere._ "

" _Easy for you to say that when you're not the one in charge of making sure this contest goes off without a hitch._ " Blaney snapped just as another aide rushed over towards him.

When Blaney turned and saw the aide, he shouted, "Jean-Phillippe! _Why aren't the decorations set up?_ "

"Je suis desole, Henri." (I'm sorry, Henri.) Jean-Phillippe replied. "Mais _I can't find the decorations. They seemed to have been misplaced._ "

" _What do you mean misplaced?_ " Blaney demanded. " _They were last seen in the storage room, am I right?_ "

"Oui." Jean-Phillippe nodded. " _That's where I thought the decorations were at when I went over to set up the stage, but they're not there._ "

Blaney narrowed his eyes. _"Did anyone went into the storage room during lunch break?"_

"Non." Jean-Phillippe shook his head. " _I_ _was there and saw the decorations last before we broke for lunch, and I have the key on me at all times._ "

" _And when you returned after lunch, the decorations were nowhere to be seen._ " Blaney said.

"Exactement." Jean-Phillippe nodded. " _That's what I've been doing for the past couple of hours._ "

Blaney sighed as he wiped his forehead and gently rubbed his temple, but before he could respond, they heard groaning coming from above.

"Attention!" (Look out!) One of the stagehands shouted, and the trio looked up, just in time to see the giant light fixture above them crashing down.

Swiftly, Blaney grabbed the two aides at his side by the collars as he took off.

"Run!" He shouted as they quickly moved out of the way, and just in time, too, for a split-second later, the fixture crashed onto where they were standing at just seconds ago.

As the dust settled, the staff paused from their work to survey the damage, and Blaney only placed his palm on his forehead and sighed.

However, before anyone could say anything, a scream can be heard, and when everyone turned towards its source, they all gasped as a dark, shadowed figure was seen on the catwalk above the stage.

"Behold: The Phantom!" The figure hollered as it swung down from the catwalk, right towards Henri Blaney.

Before the assistant manager can react, the figure snatched the clipboard from his hand before swinging upwards towards the dark roof, where it disappeared.

With the figures haunting, sinister laugh in the background, the staff gathered around as they looked towards where that figure had disappeared at.

It was then that one of the aides turned around, looked towards the main screen on the stage background and gasped.

"Regardez!" (Look!) The aide shouted, and everyone followed her gaze and gasped as well.

The screen was now displaying the following sentence: "Christine must win!"

At the sight of the haunted-looking text on display on the screen, Blaney began to feel a little light-headed before he collapsed onto the floor and fainted.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	2. Meeting an old friend & a news article

**Author's Note: If any of you folks have keen eyes while reading this chapter and all subsequent chapters to follow, you might have noticed that there are some dialogues and action sequences that are similar to another story of mine.**

 **That's right, the story in question is none other than _Phantoms and the Talent Stars Finals,_ which is the new title of _Revised Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright_ , one of the earliest stories I've written and published on this site.**

 **You all can consider this story as an attempt for me to improve both the story in question and the 2013 DTV film it was based on, mainly because now that I look back to it, I've felt that what I've written in the early days seemed...a little campy with the relationships being jammed in too hard.**

 **As such, this story serves as my way to balance things out while keeping out the grievances I've had towards _Stage Fright_ , on top of functioning as my way to incorporate the other Hanna-Barbera meddling kids and introducing them to my fictional alter ego Garfield Wu.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Meeting an old friend and the news article

A short while later, once the train came to a complete stop at the platform of Windsor Station, all the passengers on board made their way off the train.

By this point, the group of kids have gone their separate ways upon disembarking from the train, with Mystery Inc. making their way to their hotel.

As they made their way through the station and towards Saint Antonie Street West, the gang took the time to take in the sight of the railway station and everything around them.

"The station sure is bustling with activity." Velma remarked as they walked past the busy commuters and travellers.

"Yeah, just like it was when we were here last time." Fred agreed as they eyed the giant display board showcasing the departure and arrival times of the trains serving the station.

Upon exiting the station, the gang made their way down Saint-Antonie Street West and took the time to take in the sight of the city's buildings.

With the rush hour crowd getting off the streetcar at the nearby streetcar stop, the gang had to wait before the crowd passes by.

Continuing with their walk down the street, they've past by a number of shops and the entrances of a couple department stores, one of which is an Eatons.

Eying the large number of shoppers in the Eaton's, Daphne remarked, "If the preparations doesn't take too long, I'm looking to check out the shops and department stores around the city and get some souvenirs."

At the remark, Shaggy turned to Scooby as he said, "Sounds like Daph's planning to buy some surprise presents for a couple more boyfriends, eh Scoob?"

"Reah." Scooby nodded. "Re-he-he-he-he-he-he!"

"Very funny, you two." Daphne said in response, not fully amused by the remark while Fred raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Well, didn't you bought some souvenirs during our last visit here, Daphne?" Velma asked.

"I did, though I'm sure the Eaton's here may offer something different for the season." Daphne replied.

"In this case, suit yourself, Daphne." Velma shrugged.

* * *

It didn't take long for the gang to reach their hotel, and upon checking in at the reception desk at the main floor, the gang made their way to their assigned rooms.

As usual, Shaggy, Fred and Scooby were staying in one room while Daphne and Velma stayed at the other room across the hallway.

With their rooms located on the tenth floor, the gang could sure see much of the city from their rooms.

Shaggy and Scooby were busy watching the Montreal traffic below them from the window while Fred relaxed on the armchair, his eyes settled on the newspaper Shaggy had picked up while on their way out of the railway station.

The trio would eventually move to unpack their luggages, during which Fred noted the amount of Scooby Snacks the Great Dane had packed in his luggage.

"You sure have to pack all those boxes of Scooby Snacks, didn't you, Scooby?" Fred remarked.

"Rell, they're relicious and relps in realing with re stress of preparations." Scooby explained as he licked his mouth.

"I'm sure there are other ways to cope with the stress associated with stage fright." Fred rolled his eyes as he resumed unpacking his suitcase. "But suit yourself."

Eventually, after unpacking and relaxing in their room, Fred checked his watch and noted the time.

"Alright, guys." He said to Shaggy and Scooby, who were relaxing on their bed and watching television. "We should head over to the Place des Arts to check in for the music competition."

"Sure, though may I suggest that we pick something up to eat while on our way?" Shaggy asked as he and Scooby reluctantly turned off the television and joined the blonde at the doorway, rubbing their stomachs as they did so. "Scoob and I are starving."

"Has there been anytime where you and Scooby aren't starving?" Fred mused as he and the boys exited their room with their equipment in hand.

After joining the girls, the gang made their way downstairs and towards the main entrance, during which Shaggy and Scooby noticed the restaurant just to the left of the reception desk.

"Like, perhaps we should refresh ourselves at the hotel restaurant?" Shaggy asked as he gestured towards the restaurant. "After all, you can't fully prepare for the competition on an empty stomach."

"Reah, reah." Scooby agreed as he rubbed his stomach.

"You guys just ate out the entire snack bar on the _Canadian_." Velma pointed out. "And you're still hungry?"

"You know them, Velms." Daphne said before noticing the menu written in chalk at the restaurant entrance and added, "Though it wouldn't hurt for us to get an early dinner before heading to the venue."

"I suppose so." Velma shrugged. "Though I'm sure that the others are already at the concert venue checking in already, and who knows how bad the traffic is going to be on our way."

"Yeah." Fred nodded. "We should get going, and besides, I'm sure we might see a restaurant along the way."

Before Shaggy and Scooby could have a say on the matter, the latter noticed someone in the restaurant that looks familiar.

"Ruh?" Scooby inquired when he saw a man in glasses and wearing a uniform and a peaked cap walking towards the entrance, at which point he tugged Shaggy's shirt. "Raggy, rook!"

"What is it, Scoob?" Shaggy asked as he turned towards where Scooby was pointing towards, only to do a double take when he recognized the man Scooby saw. "Say, gang."

"What's the matter, Shag?" Daphne asked as she, Velma and Fred paused.

"Like, isn't that Garfield Wu?" Shaggy asked just as the man in question passed by the small reception desk at the restaurant and stopped in his tracks when he saw them.

Recognizing the gang, Garfield's face brightened in recognition.

"Well, well, well." Garfield said as he stepped out of the restaurant. "If it isn't Mystery Inc.!"

The gang all smiled as Garfield walked over to join them.

He looked exactly like the time they first met him during the Ottawa SuperEX two summers ago, only that he's got more medal ribbons on his dress shirt, in addition to wearing a pair of new rank slip-ons that has some sort of coat of arms above the words "Cadet".

Also, the wings above his left breast pocket seemed to have been upgraded, likely as a result of him becoming a qualified pilot for higher level aircraft.

The air cadet wasted no time extending his hand over to Fred as he smiled.

"It's been a while, Garfield." Fred smiled as he shook Garfield's offered hand.

"I can say the same thing." Garfield smiled back. "What brings you guys here in the City of Festivals?"

"We're taking part in a music competition at the Place des Arts." Velma explained "We were on our way there to check in."

"Ah, I see." Garfield nodded. "It's the Music Talents show competition you guys are taking part in, eh?"

"Yes." Velma nodded. "How do you know?"

"Well, actually..." Garfield paused as he turned towards the restaurant before turning back to the gang as he added, "I'm actually here for another matter at the Place des Arts."

"What is it?" Daphne asked.

Garfield drew in a breath before saying, "I am currently the cadet conductor of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets Youth Orchestra and we're here in Montreal for a concert at the Place des Arts."

"A concert." Velma repeated.

"That's right." Garfield nodded. "The cadets and I are staying at the CMR, or the Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean, for the duration of the preparations and the concert itself, and we actually just arrived here from CMR ten minutes ago to have dinner."

"Ah, I see." Daphne nodded understandingly. "When's the concert?"

"This upcoming Tuesday, the 16th." Garfield answered. "As a matter a fact, this concert is gonna be my final concert with the orchestra before I formally age out."

"Age out?" Fred raised an eyebrow.

"As in reaching the 19-year old age limit." Garfield explained. "Cadets normally serve until either they attend post-secondary institutions or when they turned 19, which is the age limit."

"Ah, I see." Fred and Velma both nodded understandingly before the latter continued, "In any way, Garfield, I'm sure your seven years of service was rich with experience."

"It sure is." Garfield nodded. "Just like that time when we foiled an illegal gambling ring at the Ottawa SuperEX couple summers ago."

"You don't say." Shaggy said.

"And the concert is gonna be at which venue of the Place des Arts?" Fred asked.

"Oh, at the Théâtre Maisonneuve." Garfield replied. "You guys are gonna be at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier for the Music Talent competition, which as you guys recall are among the venues that is part of the Place des Arts complex."

"Like, in the meantime, how much are the tickets gonna be, Garfield?" Shaggy asked.

"Five bucks." Garfield said as he turned to Shaggy. "However, I can get free tickets for you guys if you're interested in attending the concert."

"Oh, I sure wouldn't miss it in the world." Daphne said cheerfully.

"Same here." Shaggy agreed. "After all, missing out on you in action is exactly the last thing we wanna do, isn't it, Scoob?"

"Reah." Scooby nodded.

"Meanwhile, the competition itself is also gonna be on the 16th, Garfield." Fred said. "We were wondering if you're going to have time to watch us perform before your concert?"

"I sure wouldn't want to miss it in the world." Garfield frowned. "That being said, it's not going to be fair for the cadets if I head over to watch you guys take part in your practice while they take part in their practice for the concert."

"Right." The others all nodded thoughtfully before Velma remarked, "Good thing, then, that the concert and the competition are like next door to each other."

"True." Garfield agreed before he checked his pocket watch and added, "Anyways, I'm sure that you guys are in a rush to head over to the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier to check in. so I'm not gonna hold you all up much longer."

"Are you coming with us, Garfield?" Daphne asked.

Eying the cadets and officers eating dinner in the restaurant, Garfield shook his head.

"I might see you guys there later." Garfield said. "Right now, I need to get back to the CMR with the cadets, because as I've mentioned earlier, we only just got here from Ottawa an hour ago, and we were on our way to the military college when we made the stop here to have dinner."

"Ah, okay." Daphne nodded understandingly.

"In that case, like, I suppose we'll see you next time when we're at the Place des Arts, eh Garfield?" Shaggy said as the gang proceeded to make their way towards the hotel entrance.

"Yes." Garfield nodded as he raised an arm in reply. "See you guys then."

* * *

After the gang took their leaves, Garfield turned around and headed back into the restaurant, where he regrouped with the cadets.

Having had finished his dinner before his meeting with the gang, the cadet WO1 looked around before spotting a copy of the evening edition of _La Presse._

Garfield swiftly reached over to pick up the newspaper and scanned the front page, then his eyes narrowed at the sight of the headline.

"又來了!" (Not again!) Garfield frowned as he scanned the first few articles of the news article accompanying the headline.

The article detailed the disappearance of a diamond on display at the Annual Jewelry Display in City Hall, where Garfield noted that City Hall officials were embarrassed by the security breach.

It was also reported that the disappearance was the second of its kind to strike the city in less than a month, and Garfield noticed how the police remained baffled by the disappearances.

Reading on, Garfield then noticed another article reporting that security at the Mineral Society has been beefed up as the famous _Savon_ diamond is on display.

"看來我該跑一趟去拜訪蒙特婁警察局。" (Looks like I'm gonna have to pay a visit to the Montreal police.) Garfield thought to himself, especially after it was noted that the lead investigator, Captain Jean-François Clouseau, declined to comment on the progress of the investigation.

It was the same Jean-François Clouseau he and the gang had met a year ago during the Chevalier case at the Place des Arts, back when the man was a lieutenant.

Judging from Clouseau's promotion and assignment to the case, Garfield figured that Clouseau had done well since they've seen him.

With that in mind, Garfield went to find Flight Lieutenant André Bédard, the officer in charge of the youth orchestra.

Bédard was sipping on a cup of tea and arched his eyebrows when he saw Garfield walking towards him.

"You seem like you're in a hurry to get somewhere, Mr. Wu." Bédard remarked.

"I am." Garfield nodded before he produced the copy of _La Presse_ he had picked up earlier and showed it to the flight lieutenant. " _I've got a feeling that the Montréal police is going to require my services again,_ captaine."

Bédard narrowed his eyes as he scanned the news article and then he looked up towards Garfield.

" _Another instance of your consultant_ _services being required?_ " Bédard asked.

"Exactement." Garfield nodded.

Bédard nodded thoughtfully before he turned towards the cadets, then towards the nearby clock, and then back towards Garfield.

Like many of the military personnel serving in the Cadet Instructor Cadres of the Canadian Armed Forces, Bédard, along with the men and women serving in uniform in the Reserves and Regular Forces, are well aware of Garfield's reputation and work as a consulting detective in a sense not unlike Sherlock Holmes.

A number of them are also aware of Garfield's acquaintance with Mystery Inc., who are better known as a group of meddling kids from the States.

" _I figured._ " Bédard finally spoke. " _Not that I'm surprised, though I'm sure that you know the drill,_ Monsieur Wu."

 _"I am."_ Garfield said. "I will return back to the CMR on my own, so don't worry about me."

"Of course." Bédard nodded and smiled. "Take care of yourself, and we will see you in a bit back at the CMR."

"I will." Garfield nodded before he took his leave.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	3. At the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier

Chapter 3: At the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier and the legend

Meanwhile, the Neptunes were walking their way down the street towards the Place des Arts complex, specifically to the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, after Clam spent the last ten minutes searching for a parking spot for the Neptunemobile, one that ended up being a couple blocks away from the complex.

"Thanks to you, we now have to walk a whole block to the Willed-Petier, Clamhead!" Shelly said crossly as they walked down the sidewalk, carrying their instruments as they did so.

"Well, do you suppose I have expected that the parking lot at the complex be full?" Clam raised his hands exasperatedly. "Besides, it's the Wilfrid-Pelletier, not Willed-Petier, Shelly."

"Whatever." Shelly huffed in annoyance. "And those hoarders ought to know better that there should be parking spaces reserved for a giant star like me."

"Sure, sure." Biff said as they continued walking down the sidewalk, during which a few pedestrians paused at the sight of Jabber.

Noticing that most of the pedestrians looking at him were mainly amused by the sight of him, some of whom even waved their hands at him, Jabber turned back towards the group.

"Now that's what I called respect!" He said as he gestured towards the pedestrians glancing at him with his fin.

"Whatever you say, Flubberjaw." Shelly rolled her eyes. "Just remember that as long as you do what I say in our act, everything will go right as we win first prize."

Eventually, the Neptunes arrived at the complex, though as they made their way towards the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, they saw Mystery Inc. already at the entrance to the venue, causing Shelly to drop her mouth open.

"What?" She exclaimed. "This can't be possible! How could they arrive here so fast when they left the hotel at a later time than us?"

In that same time, the gang were taking their break at the entrance after going through the trek of hauling their instruments up a set of stairs.

"Boy, those stairs sure are tiring." Fred remarked as he catches his breath.

"You're telling me." Shaggy agreed. "It would definitely be easy for us if we had brought the Mystery Machine along with us for the trip."

"True, although we would definitely be having a hard time finding a parking post had we decided to drive here." Velma pointed out as she gestured towards the packed parking lot.

The others nodded thoughtfully, during which Daphne smirked when she saw Shelly and the Neptunes walking over towards them.

"Well, well, well." Daphne smirked. "Look who decided to join us at this minute."

"Oh, just shut it, Blake." Shelly retorted as the Neptunes joined them. "What I don't understand is how did you guys got here so fast even though we left the hotel before you all do."

The Mystery Inc. gang shared looks with each other before Shaggy and Scooby shrugged and pointed their thumbs towards the nearby Metro entrance.

"Like, we took the Metro here." Shaggy said.

"Which is way faster compared to how long you guys took to get through the rush hour traffic on the Neptunemobile and finding a parking spot for it." Daphne added.

"Should've figured that there was a reason why you guys didn't bring the Mystery Machine with you for the trip." Biff nodded.

"Yeah." Fred agreed. "After our first visit to Canada almost two years ago, we've kinda learned our lesson on not to bring the Mystery Machine with us, especially when it comes to driving around a city in which we're not familiar with."

"And to think that Ottawa's traffic was bad enough." Velma nodded. "With Montreal being the largest city of Canada, it shouldn't take much to figure that it would be best for travellers to use the city's public transit system instead of driving around, especially during rush hour."

"But shouldn't rush hour traffic be faster?" Bubbles asked. "After all, everyone is in a huge rush to get back home."

"Bubblehead, during rush hour, the streets are more likely to be clogged with people all heading home in the same time." Shelly sighed.

It was then that Jabber noticed the time on the nearby clock tower, and then he turned towards the two groups.

"Guys, it's getting late now, we should head inside." He said.

The others all paused and looked at him before they shared looks with each other and nodded.

"Right, then." Fred said. "Let's get going."

But just as the group were about to enter the venue, an authoritative voice called out, "Hey!"

The group paused and turned around, where they quickly found where the voice had came from.

It was that of a security guard, who was holding a clipboard and is walking towards them with a stern look on his face.

 _"Where do you think you're going?"_ The security guard demanded in French. " _And besides, no pets are allowed in here!_ "

The group shared looks with each other before Fred turned around and Biff stepped forward.

"Uh...we don't speak..." Biff quickly said, though it was then that the security guard had a look of recognition on his face when he saw Fred and the Mystery Inc. gang.

"Ah, I remember you kids and your chien." The officer said to the gang, who all relaxed. "You were here last year to stop that chevalier that was causing trouble in the venue, were you not?"

"Yes, we were, Officer Leblanc." Velma said as the Neptunes shared looks with each other.

"Anyways, we're here to take part in the Music Talent competition in the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier." Daphne added as she pointed her thumb towards the venue entrance door.

Leblanc nodded as he flipped a page on the clipboard before finding the name in which the gang were registered under.

"Fred Jones, Velma Dinkley, Daphne Blake, Norville Rogers and Scooby Doo?" He asked.

"That's us." Fred nodded.

"C'est bien." Leblanc nodded again before adding, "You kids are good to go."

"Perfect." Fred smiled before he and the gang made their way into the venue.

As that was happening, Shelly was about to join them, only for Leblanc to stop her.

"Not you, Miss." Leblanc said sternly, forcing Shelly to stop and rejoin her group. "I still need to make sure that you kids and your shark are also here to take part in the competition instead of causing trouble."

"What makes you think we might cause trouble?" Shelly retorted.

The security guard immediately stepped forward, glared right at Shelly and added, "I know trouble-makers when I see one, and you sure come dangerously close to getting yourself thrown out of the venue, Miss."

Shelly was clearly unnerved by the guard's glare, and she immediately backed down, during which Biff stepped up.

"Don't mind her, Officer." Biff quickly said. "She's just in a bad mood, since we just had a long walk here from where we had parked."

"Huh." Leblanc grunted as he turned towards Biff, then looking towards the rush hour traffic on the street, he added, "Bad idea to drive in rush hour traffic like this, not to mention that the parking lot is always filled like this on Fridays before the weekends."

He then took out a pen and added, "But anyways, you kids can't go in unless you're on my list of performers here."

Leblanc was pointing his pen at the clipboard he was holding as he made the remark, and the Neptunes nodded.

"Uh...we should be under the name Biff Cooke." Biff said nervously.

"Hmm..." Leblanc said as he searched for the Neptunes' names, then he looked up towards the group before adding, "Ah, there you are. Now, just to be clear before I let you guys in: I will not allow the sight of trouble-making punks with a shark horsing around the concert venue!"

"Horsing around?" Bubbles asked in confusion. "But we don't have any horses, Officer."

"He meant causing trouble around here." Shelly said as she knocked on Bubbles' head. "Hello?"

"For the most part, other than the incident I've mentioned earlier when speaking with Mystery Inc., the area's been quiet and largely uneventful." Leblanc continued. "And I intend to keep it that way as chief of security."

Then, eyeing the time on the tower clock, Leblanc added, "Anyways, I won't hold you kids up much longer, so get moving."

As the Neptunes proceeded to make their way into the venue, though, Shelly was stopped by Leblanc as he added, "And remember, Miss. I will be keeping a special eye on you. If you cause any trouble or any form of mischief, I will be there."

"Uh...y-yes, officer." Shelly swallowed and nodded before she joined the others.

Watching the Neptunes making their way into the venue, Leblanc adjusted his cap before turning and walked away.

* * *

Meanwhile, following a quick ride on the Metro, Garfield made his way through the doors to the Ville Marie police station.

The desk sergeant was busy speaking to a couple of police officers when he arrived, and as Garfield approached the desk, one of the officers nodded towards him before adding, "Ah, Sergeant. Monsieur Wu est ici." (Ah, Sergeant, Mr. Wu is here.)

The sergeant paused and turned around before smiling. "Ah, Monsieur Wu."

"Sergeant Bertineau." Garfield smiled back as he noted the nameplate of the sergeant's uniform. "Ça va?" (How are you?)

"Je ça va bien." (I'm doing alright.) Bertineau nodded as he shook Garfield's offered hand. _"I see that you've done well in the air cadets."_

"Uh-huh." Garfield nodded. _"It sure has been a pleasure serving in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, especially with all the fun I've had in the years since I've joined."_

 _"I see."_ Bertineau nodded. _"I've got a young son who joined this past September and is heading off to Bagotville for summer camp."_

Garfield nodded again before asking, " _Anyways, is Captain Clouseau here?_ "

 _"Let me check."_ Bertineau said as he picked up the telephone and dialled a number, during which he continued, _"You seeing him about the recent diamond thefts?"_

"Oui." Garfield replied. _"I'm in town with the air cadet youth orchestra for a concert this Tuesday, and when I read about last night's theft, I thought that I should lend a hand in_ _this_."

"Je comprend." (I understand.) Bertineau nodded thoughtfully before speaking into the telephone and added, "Captaine, _Mr. Wu is here to see you, says that he would like to help out with the diamond theft case._ "

A pause went by before the sergeant nodded again. "Oui, oui. Okay, c'est bien. Merci, monsieur." (Yes, yes. Okay, that's good. Thank you, sir.)

Upon hanging up the telephone, the sergeant turned towards Garfield and added, "Captaine Clouseau _is expecting you in his office._ "

"Parfait." Garfield nodded before he reached over to shake the sergeants hand and added, "Merci beaucoup, Sergeant Bertineau." (Thank you very much, Sergeant Bertineau.)

" _You're very welcome._ " Bertineau nodded as Garfield took his leave before he resumed his earlier conversation with the two officers.

Garfield marched his way through the station and wasted no time finding the Criminal Investigation Department bullpen, whereupon he made his way towards the detective captain's office.

Along the way, he passed by the district's chief inspector, who nodded at him in recognition.

"Monsieur Wu." The chief inspector nodded.

"Inspecteur-chef Garneau." Garfield nodded back.

Eventually, Garfield arrived at the captain's office and gently knocked on the partially-closed door.

He heard some papers ruffling before the door opened, and the captain smiled.

"Monsieur Wu." Clouseau greeted him.

"Captaine." Garfield nodded back as the captain motioned him to enter. "Ça va?"

"Oui, je ça va bien." Clouseau smiled. _"Anyways, I heard that you're expressing interesting in taking a look at the missing diamond cases."_

"Oui." Garfield nodded. " _I_ _read the paper about it, and I was wondering if there's anything I could be of assistance._ "

" _Of course_." Clouseau nodded before motioning Garfield to follow him out of his office. _"Follow me."_

* * *

Back in the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, the gang and the others wasted no time getting checked in with the stage director before getting assigned to their rooms.

In their room, Shaggy was busy tuning his guitar while Velma and Daphne were in the make-up room.

"I honestly wouldn't understand why the guys decided to pick to perform this song." Velma remarked as she and Daphne hummed in front of the mirror.

"Well, you know how much Shag is crazy for anything Johnny Cash." Daphne shrugged. "Not that I blame him, as Cash's music is really good."

"I know, but of all the pieces by Johnny Cash they could've chosen, they just have to pick this one piece where you and I are like humming." Velma sighed.

"It's just humming." Daphne assured her friend. "It's no big deal, especially since our lines aren't as much compared to Shag's."

"Well, what really surprised me is that Fred agreed to play the mariachi trumpet with Scooby for our act." Velma said. "I didn't know Fred can play the mariachi trumpet at all."

"Me neither." Daphne agreed. "Though he has been doing well in the last several practices."

"Hmm." Velma murmured before she continued, "But anyways, I wonder what does Shag and Scooby have in mind for an encore performance?"

"Search me." Daphne shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

A short while later, Fred and the girls gathered at the doorway as Shaggy and Scooby tried a few tunes.

"Hey Shag, the girls and I are just gonna head out to take a look around." Fred called out to them.

"Okay." Shaggy nodded as adjusted the tightness of one of the guitar strings.

Fred nodded back before he and the girls made their way out of the room.

Soon, the trio were walking down the hallway, where they ran into the others who then decided to join them in their walk around.

"The place sure hasn't changed much since we were here last year." Daphne remarked as they walked down the hallway.

"What were you guys doing here last year?" Dee Dee asked.

"Was it another music competition you guys took part in?" April added.

"Oh, it's kinda a long story." Velma responded.

"How so?" Biff asked.

"Well, we entered this contest that won us an all-expenses paid trip to Montreal." Daphne said. "Which then led us to visiting the landmarks in the city during the trip, though we kinda got dragged into a mystery of sorts."

"Oooo." Taffy remarked. "What kind of a mystery?"

"Oh, just some ghost knight haunting the venue." Fred shrugged. "Nothing too big, as we soon found out that someone manufactured the legend behind the ghost knight to cover up his involvement in a fraud racket."

"So besides that ghost knight, nothing else?" Suzie asked.

Fred and the girls shared looks with each other and shook their heads. "Nothing much here other than that ghost knight."

"Place is quite nice, in fact." Daphne agreed. "Once the ghost knight was captured, everything went pretty much back to normal."

"Well, I hate to break it to you kids, but it seems like this 'back to normal' thing isn't exactly working out lately." A voice suddenly said, and the group paused before they turned around towards the source of the French-accented voice.

Standing at the adjacent hallway stood a middle-aged black man wearing a round pair of glasses and a grey flat cap, and the group noticed the rings he was wearing on his fingers.

"How do you mean?" Daphne asked as the man joined them.

"The ghost knight that caused trouble here last year was only the tip of the iceberg." The man replied as he folded his arms. "The Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier has been having a...how to put this...phantom problem."

The group shared looks with each other before Henry asked, "What sort of phantom problem are we talking about here, Mister...?"

"Barbot." The man introduced himself. "Patrick-Pierre Barbot, general manager of the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier venue, and your phantom is no ordinary phantom."

"No ordinary phantom?" April asked.

"No." Barbot shook his head. "He's an offshoot of the legendary phantom that haunted the grounds of the Palais Garnier at the turn of the century."

"But there's no such thing as phantoms, Mr. Barbot." Velma pointed out.

"That may be, but that doesn't mean that there has been strange things going on lately here in the venue." Barbot said.

"What sort of strange things?" Biff asked.

"Decorations, props and other stage equipment disappearing, only to turn up someplace else a short while later without explanation." Barbot said. "Lights and other fixtures malfunctioning, the feeling of someone watching the stage hands working, threatening messages on the display screen, you name them."

The group shared looks with each other, then Fred asked, "What sort of threatening messages are we talking about here?"

"Just this early afternoon, one of the giant light fixtures crashed onto the ground, then the phantom showed up and snatched away one of the clipboards." Barbot explained. "And then, the display screens on stage were displaying the message 'Christine must win!'"

"Zowie!" Taffy remarked. "Who's this Christine the phantom was referring to?"

"Christine Damon, who is one of the contestants taking part in the Music Talent competition." Barbot said. "And it's best that you avoid any form of interactions with her or her family, because let's just say that they're the type who would do whatever it takes to win."

The group, at the remark, only turned towards Biff, who shrugged as he raised his hands up.

"Sounds familiar." He said, and the others paused their lips as they turned back towards Barbot.

* * *

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	4. The tape and an unpleasant encounter

Chapter 4: The tape and an unpleasant encounter

Meanwhile, over at the Ville Marie police station, Captain Clouseau wasted no time introducing Garfield to the investigators assigned to the diamond theft cases.

He was promptly introduced to Lieutenant Gilbért Picard and Sergeant Jean-André Mauriat, both of whom enthusiastically shook Garfield's hand at the introduction by Clouseau.

 _"So anyways, given your past work in helping us out, we're happy to let you lend us a hand."_ Picard said to Garfield as they met in a conference room equipped with a television screen and VCR player.

" _Hopefully, the VCR tape would give us a clear picture as to what exactly happened last night at City Hall."_ Garfield nodded.

" _Yes, it's a good thing that City Hall had made the decision to use VCR tape to record its surveillance footage._ " Mauriat added. " _VCR is something that is only new to surveillance recently, as in the past, surveillance footage is recorded onto magnetic tapes._ "

 _"And the process of installing said tapes, which can only be done manually, is very time-consuming, not to mention expensive and unreliable."_ Picard said before inserting the VCR tape into the player and added, " _But anyways, I digress,_ _let's hope that the footage we have here from the night of the theft would give us a lead on the identity of the culprit._ "

As the television began playing the VCR tape, the four men leaned forward to take a close look at the footage as the time stamp read "0:17".

Garfield narrowed his eyes as a figure dressed in dark clothes came into view, the figure's back facing the camera, and approached the display holding the priceless diamond.

 _"The guy sure is smart avoiding getting his or her face shown on the camera."_ Garfield observed.

 _"Which is unusual, since City Hall is one of the very few places known to employ closed-circuit television."_ Clouseau frowned.

" _Which also means that either the culprit knew about the camera or that the camera happened to be installed in an angle that prevents it from getting a good look of the culprit._ " Mauriat speculated.

Garfield rolled his eyes towards Mauriat at the remark and raised the index finger of his right hand.

"Attendez." (Hold that thought.) He said as he placed his left hand on his chin.

Noting the frown forming on Garfield's face, it was clear to the investigators that he was deep in thought as he glared at the footage on the television screen.

" _What are you thinking, Mr. Wu?_ " Picard asked as Clouseau folded his arms.

Garfield turned towards the captain and said, " _When you instal surveillance cameras at a display like where the diamond was at, it is to keep an eye out for the diamond and record the people that would pass by the display, is it not?_ "

" _That's correct._ " Mauriat nodded.

" _And the camera is supposed to be installed in an angle where it can get a good look at the faces of people that are at a close distance to the display, regardless of the direction in which the person is coming from._ " Garfield continued before gesturing at the television screen and added, " _Yet throughout the whole period in which the diamond was taken from its display, there was no clear look of the culprit's face._ "

By the time he finished the remark, the replayed surveillance footage depicted the culprit walking towards offscreen with the diamond now removed from the display.

" _So you suppose that the culprit knew exactly how the surveillance camera worked._ " Clouseau interjected.

"Exactement." Garfield nodded. _"Someone who has knowledge on how the cameras are installed and the angle in which they're mounted on that enables it to capture the faces of those that walked past the display regardless of the direction they're coming from."_

"Hmm." The others nodded in agreement. _"Exactly what we're thinking as well."_

As Garfield pondered on what to think, he noticed a small handkerchief on the desk and a realization struck him.

" _Wait a minute, can you rewind the footage, Lieutenant?"_ He said to Picard, who was standing by the television set.

" _Yes, I can."_ Picard nodded. "Pourquoi?" (Why?)

" _Rewind it back to the moment the culprit was at the display case and is taking the diamond._ " Garfield said, and the lieutenant nodded as he rewinded the footage.

Once the footage got to the moment the culprit was in the process of taking the diamond from the display case, Garfield added, " _If you take a closer look, you will see that_ _the culprit did something while taking the diamond from the display."_

Clouseau and the investigators leaned closer to the television screen, looking at where Garfield was pointing at.

From what they can see, the culprit was clearly using a dark-coloured cloth of some sort on the diamond.

In addition, even though the action was hidden, the four can see that the culprit had sprayed something onto the display case and wiped it with the handkerchief before making his exit with the diamond.

 _"Keen eye, Mr. Wu."_ Mauriat said. _"The culprit had wiped the display case with some sort of spray, likely to get rid of his fingerprints."_

 _"The initial reports did mentioned that there was the smell of lemons at the display case, though it was initially linked to the lemon grass that was planted nearby."_ Picard said as he flipped through the report. _"However, now that we've got this second look at the surveillance footage that showed the culprit spraying the display case, it is also likely that the lemon smell came from the spray that was applied."_

 _"Excellent work, Mr. Wu."_ Clouseau turned towards Garfield.

" _Oh, it was nothing_ , Captaine." Garfield waved a hand. " _The action that we just caught was very well-hidden in the footage, so it was easy for it to be missed had we didn't decide to take a second look at it._ "

" _Only question now, though, is who?_ " Picard said.

* * *

Back in the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Augie and Skip were making the trip to the washroom after deciding to take a break from their practice.

"Do you think that including Mudsy in our act is a good idea, Skip?" Augie asked as they walked down the hallway.

"For the umpteenth time, Augie." Skip rolled his eyes. "If the others can take part in the competition with a caveman, a talking shark and a talking dog, who's to say that a real ghost would be bad idea?"

"Sure, sure." Augie snorted. "I'm just worried."

"You're always worried." Skip retorted. "We've gone through the act during our practices, like, hundreds of times with Mudsy, there's no way he can mess up our act in the contest."

"It's not Mudsy messing up our act that I'm worried about." Augie stopped as he turned towards Skip. "It's Mudsy's reaction to being here in this city that I'm worried about."

"What do you mean?" Skip raised an eyebrow as he shared looks with his stepbrother.

"We're talking about someone who had taken part in the 1775 Invasion of Quebec almost 200 years ago, someone who had participated in the battles against the redcoats in this very city." Augie folded his arms. "I'm just worried that Mudsy would have some bad memories stirring up that could affect his performance during our act."

Skip paused his lips as he folded his arms, then he nodded thoughtfully.

"Good point." Skip said. However, before he could continue, there was some laughter and he turned towards Augie. "Was something I just said funny?"

"No." Augie replied in confusion. "That wasn't me."

"Huh." Skip said, during which the laughter continued briefly. "It sounded like you, yet your mouth isn't moving."

"If you're thinking that I've taken up ventriloquism practice again, then you're dreaming." Augie retorted. "Because my laugh wouldn't be so low-pitched."

Skip stared at his stepbrother, and Augie added, "It was probably just your imagination."

"If you say so." Skip shrugged. "Let's keep going."

The duo then continued down the hallway, though the laughter continued, and this time it was much louder.

Augie paused and turned towards Skip before saying, "If I might say so, Skip, you sure got a loud imagination."

"Gee, ya think?" Skip asked sarcastically before the brother turned towards the back, only for their eyes to widen in fright.

Standing right behind them was a figure in a dark suit with a green spooky face and sporting a mask, possibly to hide a disfiguration, green skin, red eyes and sporting a top hat.

The stepbrothers swallowed as the figure marched towards them menacingly, laughing evilly as it did.

With the figure marching towards them menacingly, the stepbrothers turned towards each other.

"Run." Skip said weakly.

Without another word, the duo quickly took off running, almost mowing down the figure in the process.

The figure recovered from the close call and almost immediately gave chase, raising its arms as it engages in the chase down the hallway.

* * *

Shaggy, Scooby, Clam, Jabberjaw, Henry, Stanley, Brenda and Captain Caveman were busy in their respective rooms practicing when they heard the racket from the hallway.

Henry was fidgeting with his drumsticks when he and Stanley heard the screaming and running from the other side of the door, and he placed the sticks down.

"外面是在吵什麼東西啊?" (What on earth is that racket outside?) Henry asked his brother.

"我不曉得。" (I don't know.) Stanley shrugged as he put down his guitar and walked towards the door. "我來看一下。" (I'll take a look.)

Henry nodded as Stanley opened the door and peeked out, in time to see the figure chasing Skip and Augie down the hallway towards their direction.

Seeing the figure chasing the stepbrothers, Stanley closed the door briefly, turned towards Henry and asked, "你會覺得我在作夢嗎，亨利?" (Do you think I'm dreaming, Henry?)

Henry blinked at his brother in confusion. "你在做夢嗎，史丹?" (Are you dreaming, Stan?)

"當然沒有。" (Of course not.) Stanley shook his head.

"那你幹嘛問我這種愚蠢的問題啊?" (Then why did you ask a foolish question like that?) Henry folded his arms.

Pointing his thumb towards the door, Stanley replied, "因為我覺得我剛才看到歌劇魅影的。" (Because I think I just saw the Phantom of the Opera.)

Henry only stared at Stanley blankly. "你剛才問的問題的確很蠢。" (The question you just asked was indeed foolish.)

"我沒有在開玩笑。" (I wasn't joking.) Stanley retorted as he pointed towards the closed door. "我剛才看到歌劇魅影。我發誓!" (I just saw the Phantom of the Opera. I swear!)

Henry only narrowed his eyes as he walked towards Stanley and the door.

"你不信的話，你就開門自己看吧!" (If you don't believe me, then you open the door and see for yourself!) Stanley added as he moved out of the way.

Henry only grunted as he pushed the door open and stepped outside, in time for Skip and Augie to collide right into him and the door.

With a groan, the trio got up as Henry asked, "What is it with you guys?"

Seeing that the phantom is still behind them, Augie pointed at it as he asked, "Why don't you ask him, Henry?"

Henry looked towards where Augie was pointing at and he and Stanley's eyes widened.

With the phantom closing in on them, Henry swiftly pulled Skip and Augie inside and slammed the door shut.

The phantom eventually reached the door and opened it, expecting to see the four boys inside the room.

Instead, to its surprise, the room was empty as if no one was even using it before.

The phantom growled as it looked on with a puzzled look on its face, not sure how could it be possible for the boys to make their getaway when it is at the only entrance and exit to the room.

It was then that it heard footsteps retreating further down the hallway, and when it stepped out of the room and looked, the phantom saw everyone else making their getaway down the hallway.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the main front lobby, the other kids were discussing what Barbot had spoke to them about earlier.

"A phantom said to be haunting the concert venue." Dee Dee remarked.

"Who's said to be an off shot of the more-famous phantom that haunted the Palais Garnier in Paris." Biff murmured.

"And strange going-ons had happened here recently." Velma rubbed her chin.

"And I thought that the ghost knight from last year was bad enough." Daphne added.

"Seems like trouble has its way of following us wherever we go." Fred said.

"If that's the case, it won't be the first time." Suzie said. "Remember the barn dance we had that got crashed by a mouse almost two years ago?"

"I sure remember." April nodded as she folded her arms.

Before she could continue, the group heard running coming from the nearby hallway.

"You guys hear that?" Shelly asked. "It sounds like I've got fans who are eager to meet a star like me!"

"Don't be so sure about that, Shelly." Daphne said. "It could be the guys running away from something they just saw."

"And they'll sure crash into us if we don't move out of the way." Dee Dee added.

Sure enough, the minute Dee Dee made the remark, the group that was running away from the phantom earlier crashed into Shelly before she had a chance to move out of the way.

"Hey!" Shelly exclaimed at the impact of the crash. "What was that for?"

"Are you guys okay?" Suzie asked in concern while the others were picking themselves up.

"You sure look like you've seen a ghost." April said to Skip and Augie before adding, "Pleasant company excluded."

"No worries, my dear April." Mudsy's voice can be heard as he appeared.

"What were you guys running from?" Daphne asked as she turned towards Shaggy and Scooby.

"Oh, you wouldn't believe it if we tell you all." Clam panted.

"Let me guess." Dee Dee said. "It was the phantom that was said to be haunting the venue that chased you all, isn't it?"

The others shared looks with each other, during which Jabberjaw remarked, "You sure are psykik, nyuk, nyuk, nyuk."

"How did you know it was a phantom that was chasing us earlier, Dee?" Brenda asked.

Fred's group shared looks with each other before proceeding to detail what Mr. Barbot had told them earlier.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Shaggy sighed. "First a ghost knight, and now a phantom!"

"Ris there a place re go to rhat risn't haunted?" Scooby added.

"Well, phantom or no phantom, it looks like we've got another mystery in our hands, everyone." Fred announced.

"Yes, like we need to get to the bottom of what exactly is going on here that would explain those strange occurrences that Mr. Barbot had described." Henry added.

It was clear that the announcement wasn't exactly Shaggy, Scooby, Clam, Skip, Augie and Brenda were hoping for, and the six collectively groaned.

"I was afraid you were gonna say that." Brenda said.

* * *

After the close encounter, it was agreed that the performers would return to their hotel and turn in for the night.

Along the way back to the hotel, Daphne insisted in dropping by the nearby Eaton's department store to check out a few items.

"Sure, just don't take to long." Velma was saying as Daphne made her way into the department store.

When Daphne entered, she was taken in by the crowd that was shopping in the main floor.

With the large crowd of shoppers present, Daphne was having a hard time finding a salesman who could guide her through the products that are on sale for the Victoria Day long weekend.

The redhead looked around and saw a lineup of people waiting to be served by a salesman, and she wordlessly walked over to join the line.

There were only two people ahead of her, and Daphne figured that she should have enough time to look around and get back to the hotel.

As she waited for her turn, Daphne's mind wondered back to the strange going-ons Mr. Barbot had described to them earlier, and she wondered if there is something they can do to get to the bottom of the case.

The redhead sighed as she remembered that it wasn't exactly the first time they've encountered strange going-ons at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier. After all, just a year ago, they were responsible for capturing a ghost knight that was haunting the venue!

It was then that a loud voice interrupted her thoughts.

"What do you mean that we have to wait another five minutes?" The voice demanded, and Daphne paused and turned towards the source. "We've been standing here for more than half an hour!"

A blonde-haired young woman, accompanied by a younger woman, who Daphne assumed to be the older woman's sister, were seen yelling at the manager.

"Yeah!" The younger woman agreed. "Send us a saleswoman right away!"

"I'm terribly sorry, but you should know that there are others that are ahead of you in the line." The manager said. "Not to mention that all of our salespeople are-"

"Perhaps you have no clue who we are?!" The older woman demanded as she stepped forward.

"I-i-indeed I do, Miss Damon." The manager responded, and it was then that Daphne snapped her head towards the trio. "I will have a saleswoman here to serve you and your sister in a few moments, if only you-"

"You do realize that it is considered to be rude having to have your customers wait for more than half an hour, do you?" The younger woman sneered.

"Indeed, such a terrible service." Her sister agreed. "You do realize that our father is an old friend of someone who sits on Eaton's board of directors, so if we report this to him, he can have you dismissed."

"I'm sorry, but it's the rule of the department store." The harassed man apologized. "You must wait for your turn."

The two women snorted as the manager turned away, and Daphne can't help but feel sorry for the man.

The redhead took the time to observe the sisters, and the frown on her face deepened as she got a good look of the Damon sisters.

The older Damon certainly looked plain, where the eyelash extensions and red lipstick can be deceiving if it weren't for her unreasonable character hiding behind a sweet and attractive façade.

Her younger sister looked more attractive, though her face certainly lacked character, and the frown and disappointed look on her face had basically cancelled out the attractive look on her face.

Both sisters were sporting expensive-looking clothing, and Daphne can't help but feel a sense of déjà vu.

The Damon sisters reminded her of another pair of sisters Garfield had told her and the gang about, whose surnames were Ewell if she recall correctly.

It was then that the younger Damon caught Daphne looking towards her and her sister.

"What are you looking at?" She demanded.

Daphne was almost caught off guard by the remark, though she swiftly thought of something.

"Oh..." The redhead quickly said. "I...was just checking the time on the clock over there."

The older Damon only narrowed her eyes at the remark. "You're wearing a wristwatch."

"Oh." Daphne said as she quickly checked her wristwatch, then she proceeded to wind it as she added, "Battery must've died."

The sisters snorted, though the awkward silence was broken when a saleswoman joined in, and almost immediately, the sisters began hurling insults at her.

Watching the saleswoman leading the sisters away, Daphne sighed in relief, during which she overheard the older sister saying, "Yes, my sister Christine is looking to get a nice dress for the Music Talent competition in town."

 _So that's Christine!_ Daphne thought to herself as she watched Christine and her sister following the saleswoman to the ladies section.

The redhead sighed and shook her head.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	5. A threatening note

Chapter 5: A threatening note

 _May 13, 1972_

Garfield found himself enjoying the scenery in Old Prague as he walked across the Charles Bridge on a warm afternoon.

With the birds chirping nearby, Garfield took the time to engage the peaceful surroundings in Prague as he watched the water flow of the Vltava River below the bridge.

He then turned around, his lips forming into a small smile as he saw the Prague Castle in the background, complete with the green forestry and the clear blue sky.

Even though he was outdoors far away, he can hear the D minor polka movement of Dvořák's _Czech Suite_ playing in the background clearly.

The whole dreamy sequence of him walking through Old Prague and interacting with the local peoples eventually shifted to the stage of the Théâtre Maisonneuve, where Garfield was gently conducting the cadet youth orchestra as they rehearsed for the upcoming concert.

Slowly opening his eyes while turning a page of the score, Garfield nodded gently as he watched the cadets playing their instruments eagerly under his direction as he swung the baton.

Eventually, after the stormy furiant final movement that ended in a resounding D minor key, Garfield took the minute to recompose himself shortly before the officers observing the rehearsals clapped from the audience seats.

"That was very brilliant!" Flight Lieutenant Bédard nodded as he and the other officers clapped. "Very, very brilliant."

"Yes indeed." Flight Sergeant Patricia Hendricks, who's a Regular Forces volunteer attached to the youth orchestra, nodded in agreement. "For the while, we all thought that we visiting Old Prague, Czechoslovakia."

Garfield nodded back as he smiled, then he noted the time on his watch before he said, "Anyways, it's 10:30 right now, so how about we take a 15-minute break?"

"Sounds like a good idea, Mr. Wu." Bédard nodded.

"Alright, then." Garfield smiled as he turned towards the cadets and rubbed his hands before saying, "After everyone returns at 10:45, we will pick up from where we had left off for our concert program."

The cadets all nodded understandingly, and they all gently put down their instruments before heading off for their breaks.

As that was happening, Garfield walked over to WO2 Dalton McGarrett, the youth orchestra's concertmaster, and motioned him over.

"What's up, Wu?" McGarrett asked. "You got something you need to take care of?"

"Something like that, McGarrett." Garfield nodded. "If I'm not back by quarter to eleven, start without me."

"Of course." McGarrett nodded back. "Something to do with your appointment last night?"

"Related to it." Garfield replied. "Anyways, I shouldn't be gone for long."

McGarrett nodded again as Garfield put his wedge cap on and took his leave, not that the cadets minded Garfield's absence, given that they are all aware of his work helping out the police with cases.

* * *

It didn't take long for Garfield to make his way to the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, and as he entered the venue, he spotted Mystery Inc. and the other contestants at the main lobby room.

Fred was first to notice his presence, and he smiled as Garfield approached them.

"Hey Garfield." The blonde greeted.

"Hey guys." Garfield nodded back. "Just happened to be in the neighbourhood."

"Taking a break from your concert rehearsals next door, Garfield?" Velma asked.

"Yes." Garfield replied. "How did things go yesterday?"

"It was okay, until the organizer mentioned some strange going-ons that had happened here the past couple of days." Daphne frowned.

"What sort of strange going-ons?" Garfield raised an eyebrow. "Is it similar to the ghost chevalier we've dealt with last year?"

"Pretty much, though the organizer claims that the place is haunted by a phantom." Velma said.

"A phantom." Garfield drew in a breath. "As in the Phantom of the Opera?"

"Yeah." Shaggy nodded. "And to think that we've taken care of the haunting problems in this place when we were last here."

"And the strange going-ons the organizer mentioned are stuff like stage equipment malfunctioning, props being misplaced only to later turn up at another place with no explanation at all?" Garfield placed his hands on his hips.

"And someone wanting one of the contestants to win." Fred added.

"Who's the contestant in question?" Garfield now folded his arms.

"A contestant named Christine Damon." Velma explained. "Mr. Barbot, the organizer, explained that the display screens on stage were displaying a message that read 'Christine must win', which would suggest that someone wants her to win very badly."

"And yesterday, I had the 'pleasure' of running into Christine and her sister at the Eaton's department store." Daphne added. "I sure felt sorry for the manager and the saleswoman serving them, given the way they were yelling at the former and astonishing the latter for being late."

"Now hold that thought." Garfield raised a finger. "Damon...Damon...where have I heard that name before?"

The gang shared looks with each other, during which Garfield tried to recall something.

It was that moment that something deep inside his mind clicked, and Garfield's mind began to flashback.

GARFIELD'S FLASH VISION

 _October 29, 1968_

"And you're very certain that the Ewells are of great character to the point that the late Bruce Stevenson would bequeath the entirety of his fortune to them, Mr. Damon?" Flying Officer Marvin Nash asked during the trial.

"Yes, they are, Mr. Nash." Franklin Damon replied as he sat in the witness stand while the jurors and everyone else, including Garfield, who was seated in the gallery, in the courtroom looked on. "I know Jason Ewell personally, we hang out together in the same club and I see no reason why he wouldn't deserve the entire fortune."

"The beneficiaries in Mr. Stevenson's new will would like to disagree with that assessment." Nash pointed out. "What makes you think that the Ewells deserve the entire fortune while the other relatives don't?"

"Jason worked very hard for his money, and given how volatile the stock market is, it would be beneficiary for him to receive the entire fortune." Damon replied. "Those other relatives, they're just trying to drag his name through the mud because they didn't work as hard as he did."

It was clear that the latest remark infuriated Garfield, as he had to show considerable restraint to stop himself from standing up from his seat in the gallery and call Franklin Damon a liar.

Instead of doing what he had in mind, Garfield instead bit his lip and continued to look on as Franklin Damon continued with his testimony.

END FLASH VISION

"Christine Damon is the younger daughter of one Franklin Damon, who I had the 'pleasure' of meeting years ago." Garfield began to explain.

"What was the occasion for the meeting, Garfield?" Shaggy asked.

"It wasn't exactly a meeting, per se." Garfield explained. "More like he was a witness called up to testify in a court appeal launched by the Ewells, who were determined to have all of the Bruce Stevenson estate to themselves."

"And you were seated in the gallery when he was called to the stand to testify." Fred interjected.

"Exactly." Garfield nodded. "He was lucky I didn't stand up from my seat and called him a liar when he accused the other relatives of being jealous of the Ewells just because 'they didn't work as hard to as Jason Ewell did' as Franklin Damon claimed."

(For more information of the Bruce Stevenson case, please check out my FictionPress story _D4 Garfield and the Secret of the School Library!_ )

"What was the Damons' connections with the Ewells?" Velma asked.

"Well, they both owned stocks in various markets and can be considered to be golfing buddies and business partners of sorts." Garfield replied. "Both men also had connections to business circles."

"Yes, I heard Christine's sister told the Eaton's manager that." Daphne scoffed as she shook her head. "She's quite the spoiled girl, isn't she?"

"Won't I know it." Garfield nodded in agreement. "But anyways, I digress. A phantom said to be haunting the venue isn't the only strange going-on that has attracted my attention now that you guys have mentioned it."

"What do you mean?" Fred asked.

Garfield pulled out the day's Montreal Gazette and showed the gang the headline on the front page, and the gang leaned forward to take a look.

"A diamond theft." Fred stated.

"Yes, it happened at Montreal's City Hall two nights ago." Garfield nodded. "The second such theft to hit the city in the month, and like the previous one, the police hasn't made much progress in cracking the case, though the culprit from both cases is one fella seen dressed with a top hat and a suit and cape."

"Just like the Phantom of the Opera." Daphne pointed out.

"Exactly." Garfield nodded again. "I took the trip to the Villie Marie police station last night upon reading about the theft, where I met with Captain Clouseau, who's the lead investigator assigned to the case."

Facing the gang, he added, "You all remember Captain Clouseau, do you?"

"We sure do." Velma nodded. "He was quite eccentric, though you definitely don't wanna underestimate his abilities to work a case, particularly with the ability for him to appear bumbling and more careless than he actually is."

"Anyways, did the police identify any suspects in the case?" Fred asked.

"Yes and no." Garfield replied. "The diamond display was equipped with a camera with the footage recorded onto a VCR tape, so they were able to obtain the footage with the part in which the culprit took the diamond from its display."

"And?" Shaggy asked.

"The culprit's face was fully covered by the phantom-like outfit and top hat, not to mention he had a handkerchief and was smart enough to not leave behind any fingerprints." Garfield shook his head.

"That's unfortunate." Fred frowned.

"Tell me about it." Garfield folded his arms. "The only silver lining is that the main lead would be finding someone who carries a spray bottle regularly."

"Spray bottle?" Velma raised an eyebrow.

"The investigators and I caught sight of the culprit spraying something onto the display case, and forensics, upon testing the display glass, has confirmed that the spray in question has a chemical compound inside that results in the product emitting an organic smell."

"Something that comes from vegetables or fruit?" Velma asked.

"Something like that." Garfield nodded firmly, but before he could continue, their attention was diverted to a raucous in the room.

"Hello? Anybody home?" They all saw the older Damon sister knocking on Shelly's head.

"As you were saying?" Christine added.

Shelly turned and looked towards the others, all as Biff was being held back by Clam and Augie.

"You better watch what you're saying, lady." Christine continued. "Because you so are going down by not getting out of my way."

With a huff, Christine then pushed Shelly aside before she and her sister made their way into the concert place.

Sharing looks with the gang, Garfield gestured towards the others as he added, "Those are the other contestants from Coolsville?"

"Yes, they are." Daphne nodded. "And I'm sure you've recognized the Damon sisters, do you?"

Garfield narrowed his eyes as he recalled the facial features of Franklin Damon from almost four years ago, then he nodded.

"The family resemblance to their father gave me a hint." Garfield said.

It was then that the other groups noticed Garfield standing with the gang and walked towards them.

"I didn't realize you guys have a sixth member, Fred." April said.

"What I'm even more surprised is that your sixth guy looked like he's in the Air Force." Stanley added.

"Oh, so you're gonna drag in some military stuff into your act, huh?" Shelly added as she quickly recovered from the encounter earlier.

Garfield looked towards the others just as Fred stepped in.

"Actually, he's not here to compete in the Music Talent competition, everyone." The blonde quickly said.

"He's an old friend of ours." Velma quickly added.

The others all studied Garfield as he placed his right hand over his left wrist.

"Really?" April asked. "We never see him in any of our classes or at school."

"That will be because I'm not from Coolsville, nor am I from the States." Garfield replied. "Mystery Inc. and I first crossed paths couple years ago when they were visiting Ottawa, Canada for the annual Ottawa SuperEX, and we were here last year when we took care of a situation involving a ghost knight haunting the venue."

The others all shared looks with each other with some nodding thoughtfully, during which Garfield added, "And I'm here for a concert in the venue next door as the cadet conductor of the Royal Canadian Air Cadet Youth Orchestra."

"Cool." Dee Dee nodded thoughtfully before adding, "I believe a few introductions are in order."

"Of course." Garfield said before he gestured towards himself and continued, "My name's Warrant Officer First Class Garfield Stephenson Wu of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, and you all can call me 'Garfield'. I've recently completed my first year of undergraduate studies in civil engineering at Carleton University, and as Mystery Inc. may have mentioned, I also help the police in solving cases."

"Cool." April said as the others all nodded thoughtfully. "A pleasure to be of acquaintance with you, Garfield."

"Likewise." Garfield nodded back.

"My name is Diana Skyes, but my friends call me Dee Dee." Dee Dee smiled as she offered her hand.

Garfield nodded as he shook her offered hand, during which Taffy stepped in and said, "My name is Taffy Dare, I'm best pals with Dee Dee and Brenda."

"Nice meeting you all." Garfield smiled as he shook Brenda's hand before turning towards the caveman and added, "And Captain Caveman, I presume?"

"Unga." Captain Caveman nodded as he reached over to grab Garfield's hand. "Me pleasure to meet you."

Taffy, Dee Dee and Brenda shared looks with each other, during which Garfield explained, "Mystery Inc. has briefed me on how they've inspired you guys to get together with your own mystery-solving groups."

"Ah." The others all nodded, during which Garfield turned towards Mudsy's group.

"The name's April Stewart." April quickly introduced herself, and Garfield nodded as he shook her offered hand.

"Augie Anderson." Augie followed suit.

"And Skip Gilroy." Skip added as he shook Garfield's hand. "Augie and I are brothers."

"Stepbrothers, I presume?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

Augie and Skip shared looks with each other, then they both nodded.

"I see." Garfield nodded back before turning towards Mudsy and Boo and added, "Major Jonathan Wellington Muddlemore, I presume?"

"The Spirit of '76, don't you know." Mudsy smiled as he appeared and offered his hand. "A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Wu."

"The pleasure's mine, sir." Garfield nodded back. "I take it that you're familiar with Montreal from your time, eh?"

"Yes, I was part of the military campaign to free Quebec from the rule of the redcoats back in '75." Mudsy replied.

"Which, suffice to say, didn't go well as planned, or otherwise Canada wouldn't exist today." Garfield said.

"Indeed." Mudsy nodded. "No hard feelings, though. From what I've seen so far, Canada's quite the beautiful country today."

"It is, sir." Garfield smiled before turning towards the Neptunes. "And I presume that you're the Neptunes, eh?"

"That's us." Biff nodded as he extended his hand. "Biff Cooke."

"Isabella McWinter." Bubbles followed suit.

"Though she's better known as Bubbles." Shelly confided as Garfield shook hands with Bubbles. "Because she can be quite the bubblehead."

"The same way I'm certain that you can be like Cinderella's spoiled stepsisters." Garfield replied, during which Shelly could've sworn she had caught of glance of the others smirking at his remark. "Miss Shelly Sandez, I presume."

Shelly only pouted as Garfield turned towards Clam, who extended his hand as he introduced himself.

"Carl Kerry." Clam introduced. "But everyone calls me Clam, not that I minded."

"Alrighty." Garfield shook his head before turning towards Jabberjaw and added, "Jabberjaw, I presume."

"A pleasure to be of acquaintance with you, Garfield." Jabber smiled as he extended his fin.

Noting the way Garfield reached over to shake it naturally, he then added, "You sure are the type who would treat anyone with respect, if I may say so."

"Which is something that can only be earned, not be demanded." Garfield nodded as he eyed Shelly.

Jabber nodded in agreement before Garfield turned towards the Chan Clan, where only the eldest three siblings were present.

Henry stepped forward as he extended his hand. "My name's Henry. Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise." Garfield smiled before switching to Taiwanese Hakka and added, "我貴姓吳，名廣慶。請多多指教。" (The name's Wu. Wu Kwan-King. Nice to meet you.)

"你可以說白語?" (You can speak Cantonese?) Henry asked, surprised.

"一點點。" (A little bit.) Garfield replied. "我剛才是講臺灣客家語，它跟粵語都是來自廣東省的，所以基本上它們是有一點類似的。" (I was speaking in Taiwanese Hakka, which together with Cantonese, traces its origins to Guangdong Province, so they're a bit similar.)

"我們了解。" (I see.) Stanley nodded thoughtfully as Henry smiled.

"那我們該自我介紹了。" (Then, we should introduce ourselves.) Henry said. "我們貴姓陳，我名子是榮亮。" (The name's Chan for all of us, and my name is Wing-Loeng.)

Garfield nodded as he shook Henry's hand, during which Stanley said, "我名子是漢章。" (My name is Hon-Zoeng.)

"And my name's Suzie." Suzie stepped in. "Unlike my brothers, my grammar in Chinese and Cantonese is very limited."

"I understand." Garfield nodded as he shook her hand before he turned towards Henry and added, "你們是香港出生的嗎?" (Were you guys born in Hong Kong?)

"是的。" (Yes.) Stanley nodded. "榮亮和我都是在香港出生的，但是我們是在檀香山長大的。" (Henry and I were born in Hong Kong, but we grew up in Honolulu.)

"我了解。" (I see.) Garfield said. "我的話，我是在加拿大首都渥太華出生，但是我是在臺灣長大的，我父母也都是臺灣人的。" (For me, I was born in Ottawa, the capital of Canada, though I've spent some time growing up in Taiwan, and my parents are both Taiwanese.)

"啊。" (Ah.) Henry and Stanley both nodded thoughtfully.

While Garfield was speaking with the Chans, the gang and the others shared looks with each other.

"Gee, Garfield sure acts differently when he speaks in Chinese." Fred remarked.

"If I'm not mistaken, it is common for people who are multilingual to have different personalities when speaking in different languages." Velma observed.

"Likely has to do with the difference in culture." Shaggy nodded as he watched Henry nodding at what Garfield had said.

"Anyways, so what are you suggesting that we should do next regarding the Phantom appearance, Fred?" Dee Dee asked.

"Well, I-" Fred was about to begin when all in a sudden, several of the younger Chan siblings rushed into the venue with Alan leading the way.

"Henry! Stanley! Suzie" Alan panted as everyone turned towards them.

"發生什麼是?" (What happened?) Stanley asked. "你們看起來好像見過鬼了。" (You all look like you've seen a ghost.)

"It wasn't a ghost." Nancy said. "It was a threat."

"A threat?" Suzie asked as everyone shared looks with each other. "What kind of threat?"

Alan nodded towards Tom, who produced a note and handed it over to Henry.

"We found it in our room after we returned from the swimming pool." Tom explained as Henry tried to decipher the message, which was written in French.

Noting the frown on Henry's face, Garfield stepped forward, snapped on a pair of gloves and reached his hand out.

"把紙條給我。" (Give the note to me.) Garfield instructed, and Henry wordlessly handed the note over to him.

Everyone looked on as Garfield read the note, where he noted that the message looked like it was written in blood, then his eyes narrowed before he looked up and faced everyone.

"What does the note say, Garfield?" April asked.

With a grim and serious look on his face, Garfield simply said, "'Stay away from the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier. You have been warned.'"

At the translation, everyone shared looks with each other in concern.

* * *

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	6. The sabotage and the floor plan

Chapter 6: The sabotage and the floor plan

A short while later, the group were back at the hotel as the younger Chan siblings pointed out the location in which they've found the note.

"This is where you've found the note?" Dee Dee asked once they arrived at the fifth floor.

"Yes." Tom nodded as he pointed towards the gap between the floor and the door and added, "It was laying on the floor in our room when we returned from the swimming pool."

Garfield looked on as Henry unlocked the door and opened it, and his frown deepened as Chu Chu sniffed the floor.

Turning towards the others, Henry said, "You don't suppose there was another way the note could've ended up in our room, huh?"

Fred, April, Mark, Biff, Garfield and Dee Dee stepped forward and took a look before they all shook their heads.

"As far as I can see, the only way the note could've ended up in the room is when the culprit pushed it through the gap between the floor and the door and into the room." Garfield said.

"Agreed." Biff nodded in agreement.

As that was happening, Chu Chu finished sniffing the floor and whispered something into Scooby's ear, who nodded.

Noting the change in the expression on Scooby's face, Daphne asked, "What is it, Scooby?"

Scooby looked at everyone as he said, "Remons."

"Lemons?" Shaggy asked, and the Great Dane nodded.

Henry and his siblings shared looks with each other, during which Garfield sniffed the note he was holding.

"I smell lemons on the note as well." He said before turning towards the younger Chans, pointed towards the spot Chu Chu had sniffed at and added, "That's the spot this note was laying on, eh?"

"Yes." Alan nodded.

Turning towards the others, Garfield said, "Which means we will be looking at someone who smells like lemons being the minds behind this racket."

"But phantoms don't smell like lemons." Bubbles said as she placed a finger by her chin.

"Bubblehead, he meant that it is likely that whoever's behind all of this smells like lemons." Shelly folded her hands.

"But how could the culprit smell like lemons, though?" Brenda asked.

"Likely from a type of perfume that emits lemon smell." Taffy offered.

"Could be." Garfield frowned as he remembered a particular detail on the VCR surveillance tape from the latest diamond robbery.

Everyone looked on as Garfield got up, whereupon he adjusted his wedge before turning towards them and continued, "In the meantime, though, call this a hunch, but I've got a sneaking suspicion that there's something going down at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier."

"Hence the reason for the threatening note warning us to stay away from the venue." Biff interjected.

"Yes, though why would someone issue that threat if it's gonna force the cancellation of the competition, which in turn would deny Christine Damon the chance to win?" Fred frowned.

"Maybe the threat is precisely for making sure that Christine is the only contestant standing." Henry offered.

"Though that wouldn't explain the phantom stealing two priceless diamonds in the city." Daphne pointed out.

"Not to mention what exactly would a phantom want with those stolen diamonds." Clam added.

"Exactly." Garfield nodded. "All of this can only mean a couple of things."

Everyone turned towards him as he continued, "One, either that someone happens to be acquainted with the Damons and is also obsessed with diamonds, or two, there are more than one Phantom."

There was some silence from the others, then the leaders all nodded.

"Good points." Velma said.

"Oh man, you mean we're gonna have to deal with more than one Phantom haunting the place?" Clam groaned.

"And to think that one phantom was already bad enough." Augie added.

"Regardless, guys, you all can't just let those phantom appearances intimidate you into quitting, since I'm sure that you've come this far into the competition." Garfield urged.

"He's right." Dee Dee nodded. "We can't just let these phantom appearances stop us from taking part in the competition."

"Like, you mean the show must go on?" Shaggy asked.

"Precisely, Shaggy." Fred nodded.

* * *

Back at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, the group of contestants wasted no time getting on with the practice for their acts while Garfield returned to the concert practice with the cadets at the Théâtre Maisonneuve.

After spending the rest of the morning continuing with the practices and completing the finishing touches of their respective acts, the group broke for lunch before the afternoon rehearsal.

As the gang prepared for the rehearsal on stage, they spotted Garfield Wu making his way towards them.

"Hey guys." Garfield said in greeting.

"Garfield." Fred smiled. "What's up?"

"The cadets are off for a tour around the city for the afternoon, and I've been excused from taking part in the tour, since they're visiting landmarks that I've already visited before." Garfield said.

"Ah, okay." Velma nodded. "So you're gonna watch us rehearse for our acts?"

"Of course." Garfield smiled.

Soon, the contestants were lined up back stage, awaiting their turns for the rehearsal.

As that was happening, Garfield took the chance to see who the contestants were and observe their acts.

His attention was drawn to the Chan Clan, who were the first to rehearse.

The air cadet looked on as he observed the instruments the Chan Clan were holding, and noting the saxophone, trumpet, keyboard and drums at their disposal, Garfield figured that they were gonna play some pop or jazz music.

Garfield folded his arms as the Chan Clan warmed up on stage, and then the siblings were ready to start.

"Whenever you're ready." He heard one of the sound technicians said.

Henry nodded in confirmation before turning towards his siblings, and he raised his hands up high as he prepared to hit it with his drumsticks.

However, before he and his siblings began their act, everyone's attention was drawn towards a loud crash backstage.

As everyone backstage turned towards the source, Garfield rushed over to the scene, where he was greeted by the sight of the Teen Angels and their broken instruments.

"What on earth just happened?" He asked as several of the others joined him.

"The straps to our drum set just snapped loose without warning." Taffy explained as she sported a sore foot that resulted from the drum set crashing onto it.

Noting the way Taffy was clutching her sore foot, Skip remarked, "Seems like you're gonna have to incorporate a weird dance routine into your act, Taffy."

"Very funny, Skip." Taffy winced as she clutched her sore foot, and Garfield knelt down to take a look at it.

The frown on his face deepened as he turned towards the drum set and picked up the snapped strap, during which he examined the strap before turning his attention to the drum set itself.

Feeling the weight of the drum set, Garfield turned towards Taffy as everyone else looked on.

"What's the matter, Garfield?" Dee Dee asked.

Holding the drum set, Garfield said, "I've handled drum sets while supervising cadet band practices, the drum set shouldn't be this heavy."

"Of course it shouldn't." Fred frowned. "And you don't suppose that the drumhead isn't supposed to easily break like this."

"It shouldn't." Garfield shook his head as he looked at Taffy. "Where did you leave your drum set before you all broke for lunch?"

"In our prep room." Taffy pointed out. "Why?"

Turning towards the others, Garfield adjusted his glasses as he said, "This isn't the drum set you've brought with you from Coolsville for your act."

The Teen Angels shared looks with each other in surprise.

"What do you mean by that, Garfield?" Brenda asked in concern.

Pointing at the bottom drumhead, Garfield said, "There is supposed to be a logo and date on the bottom here that indicates the maker of the drum set, not to mention that the drumhead isn't supposed to be made of paper."

Dee Dee reached over to touch the drumhead, and rubbing it with her hands, she nodded.

"You're right, Garfield." Dee Dee said. "The drumhead's mainly made of paper."

"But it was making the normal drumbeats when I practiced earlier just after we returned." Taffy pointed out.

"Because the paper drumhead was strong enough to withstand the hits from the drumsticks, but not strong enough to withstand the forces exerted on it when the drum set crashed onto the floor." Garfield said.

Then, eyeing the straps, he added, "I've also noticed something viscous in the area of the straps right around where it had snapped earlier."

"Which means someone applied some liquid on the straps?" Brenda looked at Garfield.

"Yes." Garfield nodded grimly. "I'll be looking at some weak acid that took its time to eat away at the fibre of the strap, resulting in the strap snapping when it did."

Everyone looked at Garfield grimly, during which he added, "And from what I've seen on your foot, Taffy, I'll say that you've got more than a sore foot."

"Zowie! Are you saying...?" Taffy was about to ask when Garfield nodded again.

"Yes, I'm saying that you've got a trip to the nearby hospital in order." Garfield said.

* * *

By the time everyone at the venue see the Teen Angels again, Taffy was wearing a cast on her left foot and was walking around in crutches.

"For the sake of Taffy, I think it's best if we withdraw from the competition, Mr. Barbot, because I don't think Taffy can do well on stage when she has to rely on crutches to get around." Dee Dee was saying to the host.

"That's a shame." Mr. Barbot frowned. "I only hope your friend gets better soon."

As the Teen Angels confers with Mr. Barbot, the others looked on.

"Whoever was determined for Christine Damon to win sure means serious business here." Velma remarked.

"No kidding." April agreed. "Quite similar to the Phantom of the Opera, in fact."

"Well, Christine Damon is no Christine Daaé." Daphne folded her arms. "I haven't even got fully acquainted with her and her sister, and already I feel that their behaviours have a lot to be desired."

Garfield grunted as he nodded in agreement, though everyone can see that he was deep in thought through the frown on his face.

"What are you thinking, Garfield?" Biff asked.

"I'm still thinking about the Phantom's involvement in those diamond thefts." Garfield replied. "As Clam asked, what would a phantom want with diamonds?"

"As we know from the legend about the Phantom of the Opera, the culprit wasn't motivated by greed." Augie said.

"Though the guy did construct the opera house and is thus familiar with the floor layouts and how to get around the facility without being seen, hence the haunting legend surrounding him that culminated into the story we know." Shaggy pointed out.

At the remark, Garfield turned towards Shaggy.

"Do you all suppose that there are secret passageways in the venue?" He asked.

* * *

A short while later, the gang were at Mr. Barbot's office, where the general manager nodded as the group explained the hunch Shaggy had raised earlier.

"Yes, we did keep copies of the venue's floor plans from the time it was constructed." Barbot said as one of the assistants arrived with the floor plans.

Placing the documents on the desk, the general manager continued, "However, I'm not sure if I should put too much stock on your theory of the venue having secret passageways."

"Not even if said passageways were constructed for convenience and are part of the fire escape routes for the whole complex?" Skip asked as he folded his arms.

"Who knows, you may be right about the venue having secret passageways." Barbot shrugged as Garfield, Dee Dee, Velma, April, Biff, Stanley and Tom leaned forward to take a close look at the floor plans. "After all, I only got on board as general manager two months back and haven't got the time to familiarize myself with the floor plans from during construction."

Garfield grunted as he and the six examined the floor plans, during which Velma managed to pinpoint their current location on the plan.

"Okay, so your office is here..." Velma said as she pointed at the room in question while Barbot looked on, and the general manager nodded in confirmation.

Garfield continued to drag his finger across the floor plans, during which his eyebrows began to slowly form into a "V" shape as if he was a Vulcan.

He frowned when he spotted a door on the floor plan, then he turned towards Barbot.

"Mr. Batbot, do you know if this door on the ground floor is supposed to be an emergency exit?" Garfield asked.

Barbot leaned forward to take a closer look at the floor plan, and upon seeing the door Garfield had pointed out earlier, he frowned before shaking his head.

"I wouldn't know." He said as he closely examined the floor plan. "The corridor behind the door seems to be leading to the prep rooms, likely for stage personnel to get around the venue faster."

Looking at Garfield and the group, Barbot continued, "I think this might be the secret passageways you all were talking about."

Garfield, Dee Dee, Velma, April, Biff, Stanley and Tom took one more look at the floor plans before they all nodded.

"I would think that as well." Dee Dee agreed.

"Then, it's settled." Biff said. "We're gonna check out that passageway and see if we can get to the bottom of the sabotage attempt on the Teen Angels."

* * *

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	7. In the secret passageway

**Author's Note: I strongly suggest going onto YouTube and listen to John Barry Seven's _Hit & Miss _while reading the segment of the Chan Clan taking part in their stage rehearsal.**

* * *

Chapter 7: In the secret passageway and another attempt

A short while later, the group of kids gathered together to discuss what to do next upon the discovery of the secret passageway.

Upon the discussions, it was agreed that the Teen Angels would search through the secret passageway, accompanied by Garfield, while the others continue with their practice and preparations for the Music Talent competition.

"Let us know what you guys found." Fred said as Garfield and the Teen Angels proceed to take their leaves. "It should be helpful in getting us to the bottom of this mess."

"Unga." Captain Caveman nodded as he waved his hand.

Watching the five heading walking the floor, the others shared looks with each other.

"I sure hope they find a clue or two." April said. "Because with Taffy's broken leg, it tells us that whoever wanted Christine Damon to win means serious business."

"And the sooner we get to the bottom of this mess, the better." Henry agreed.

However, unbeknownst to the group, a shadowed figure was watching Garfield and the Teen Angels making their way into the secret passageway.

Once the group cleared the area and head back to resume their rehearsals, said figure swiftly walked over to the door and followed Garfield and the Teen Angels down the secret passageway.

 **(The Teen Angels and Garfield)**

The secret passageway was mostly dark, saving for a few illuminated signs pinpointing the direction of the fire exits, and as such the girls and Garfield were each armed with flashlights.

"Golly, this sure is one dark and creepy passageway for a fire exit." Brenda remarked as they looked around.

"You're telling me." Garfield nodded as he shined his flashlight onto the floor plan he was holding. "Either way, it's gonna be interesting to see what we've got here when we reach the end of this passageway..."

The air cadet trailed off when they reached a fork, and the group paused and leaned towards Garfield.

"Alrighty..." Garfield said as he consulted the floor plan and dragged his finger onto the spot they're currently at. "This is where we are right now."

"And where does this passageway lead to?" Taffy asked.

"Hmmm..." Garfield instinctively glanced to the passageway heading towards their right before tracing it on the floor plan.

The group arched their eyebrows when Garfield traced the passageway to a room, then he looked up as the light briefly reflected on the lenses of his glasses.

"If I'm not mistaken, the passageway on our right leads back to the main building, terminating at the perp rooms on the ground floor." Garfield said.

"We head straight?" Caveman asked as he pointed his club towards their front.

"Exactly." Dee Dee nodded. "Come on."

The others all nodded back before they resumed their walk down the passageway, during which they heard loud machinery and what sounded like ventilation equipment.

"Unless I miss my guess, these passageways are used not just for the stage assistants, but also for maintenance personnel, on top of serving as an emergency fire exit." Garfield observed.

"That's what we'd think as well, Garfield." Dee Dee agreed.

There was some silence between the four as they continued on down the passageway, then Garfield glanced backwards towards Taffy, who was continuing on with her crutches.

"How's the leg holding up, Taffy?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing I can't handle." Taffy replied as she hopped forward, wincing as she did so. "Doctor says that I just need to be hang in there for three-four weeks before I can start walking again without the crutches."

"I figured." Garfield nodded thoughtfully.

"Say, how were you able to know that Taffy was gonna need to wear a cast just by looking at her foot, Garfield?" Brenda asked.

"Oh, I had advanced first aid training, as part of the training offered by the Royal Canadian Air Cadets." Garfield replied.

"What do you guys do anyways?" Taffy asked as they turned towards Garfield. "Are you guys required to actually join the military?"

"No." Garfield shook his head. "The Royal Canadian Air Cadets is a youth organization, dedicated to empowering young people and teaching them stuff like survival, citizenship and aviation. The organization is partnered with the Royal Canadian Air Force, but cadets aren't obligated to join the military, though it can be a career option for them later on once they age out. It's like the cadet program offered by the Civil Air Patrol in the States."

"I see." Dee Dee said as she and the girls nodded thoughtfully before she eyed Garfield's dress shirt and added, "And judging from your medal ribbons and the pilot wings, not to mention the fancy rank you've got on your shoulders, I'd say you've achieved a lot in the Air Cadets."

"It is a lot of fun." Garfield smiled.

"I can imagine, especially since I'm sure you guys get to fly aircraft as well." Brenda nodded. "Anyways, what did you say your rank is currently?"

"Warrant Officer First Class." Garfield replied. "Which is equivalent to a Chief Master Sergeant in the States."

The girls once again nodded thoughtfully, where by that point, Garfield has taken the lead.

It was then that Garfield suddenly had his right hand up and formed into a fist, which the girls saw.

"Hold up." Garfield said. "There's something up ahead."

The girls quickly stopped and peered around the wall corner, during which Garfield leaned forward to take a closer look as he shined his flashlight towards what was ahead of them.

"What is it, Garfield?" Dee Dee asked.

"There's a door to our left." Garfield said before he consulted the floor plan and frowned. "Odd...This door and whatever is behind it isn't shown on the floor plan."

"Let me see." Dee Dee said as she took the floor plan from Garfield and took a closer look, and she frowned when she pinpointed their current location on the floor plan and saw that Garfield was right. "You're right, Garfield. The door isn't in the floor plan."

"But how?" Taffy asked. "I'm certain that the venue should've been constructed according to the floor plan, as any changes would've required the needed approvals."

"My hunch is that this door, and whatever was behind it, was added later once construction was done." Garfield said as he examined the sides of the door.

Pointing at the edges of the wall, Garfield then added, "Notice how sharp the concrete wall edges are?"

Dee Dee leaned forward to take a closer look, then upon examining the wall edges with her flashlight shining on it, she nodded.

"You're right, Garfield." Dee Dee said. "These wall edges are sharper than usual, which is typically a sign of someone drilling a hole into it."

"A rectangular hole to install this door." Brenda interjected.

"Exactly." Dee Dee nodded.

"Which makes you wonder if Mr. Barbot knows anything about this secret room." Garfield said as Taffy reached over to try the doorknob.

As expected, the door was locked, and Garfield and the girls glanced at each other.

"I suppose none of you have brought your lock picks?" Garfield asked.

The girls all shook their heads before turning towards Cavey, who was silent up until that point.

"No, but that doesn't mean Cavey has something that can help us get into the door." Dee Dee said.

"Right, Cavey?" Taffy added.

"Unga." Cavey nodded as he reached into his fur and began searching for something. "Me think me have tool."

As the four watched the caveman tossing objects out from his fur, Garfield wondered to himself how did the caveman managed to store so much items in his fur while maintaining his small size.

"說不定原始人隊長的毛內空間跟哆啦A夢的四次元百寶袋一樣。" (Perhaps the space in Captain Caveman's fur is the same as the 4D pocket Doraemon is equipped with.) Garfield observed as they watched Cavey toss out various junk from his fur.

Eventually, Cavey found what he was looking for and he passed it to Dee Dee.

"Me think this can unlock door." Cavey boasted.

Dee Dee nodded as the caveman handed her a stone key, and she proceeded to insert the key into the lock as Garfield arched his eyebrows.

No sooner did she turn the key did they hear the door click, and Dee Dee turned the door knob and opened the door.

"A universal key made of stone?" Garfield adjusted his glasses as Dee Dee returned the key to Cavey.

"Unga." Cavey nodded as he placed the key back into his fur.

The five cautiously pushed the door open before entering the room, whereupon Garfield shined his flashlight around before finding a light switch.

He reached over to flick the switch on, only to find that the room remained dark as they had found it.

"Looks like we're gonna have to keep using our flashlights, ladies." Garfield remarked.

The girls all nodded as they used their flashlights to take a look around the small room.

"I honestly wonder why would someone add this room later after the rest of the venue was opened up?" Dee Dee remarked.

"Perhaps it was supposed to be a secret storage room." Brenda offered.

"Though it wouldn't explain why the door wasn't hidden." Garfield frowned. "Though on the outside, it would look like it's just another one of those doors leading to a mechanical or storage room, especially if said person isn't familiar with the floor plans."

"And if this is a secret storage room, what's it used for?" Taffy added.

The others all shrugged, during which Dee Dee noticed the bookshelf on the other end of the room.

"Say, there's a bookshelf on the wall there." She said. "Though by the look of things, it seems like whoever had this room built has yet to stock it up with books."

"Maybe." Brenda said as she walked over to the bookshelf and picked up one of the few books that was on it.

Taffy frowned when she saw the cover of the book, and she swiftly took it from Brenda before she flipped through the pages.

"Zowie!" Taffy exclaimed.

"What is it, Taffy?" Garfield asked as he, Cavey and the girls leaned forward to take a look.

"This book is a guide on some of the world's most priceless jewels and diamonds!" Taffy declared as she showed them a page.

Cavey reached into his fur and got a magnifying glass out before proceeding to take a look at the photo of the diamond on the page.

"Diamond look clean here." Cavey said as he pointed at the photo, and Garfield's eyes narrowed in recognition.

"Hey, let me take a look at that." Garfield said as he grabbed the book from Cavey and took a closer look at the diamond.

Reading the text accompanying the photo, Garfield turned towards the girls as he said, "This is the Clean Mineral, which was the diamond that was stolen while on display at Montreal's City Hall couple night's ago."

"Stolen?" Brenda enquired.

"Yes." Garfield nodded as he turned to face the girls and Cavey. "Like I've mentioned earlier, the police hasn't been making much progress in identifying the culprit."

"Who, as you've mentioned, was also dressed as the Phantom." Dee Dee pointed out.

"So at least we know for sure that the diamond thefts is connected to the mess here." Taffy said. "Considering that this guide on diamonds is found here."

"Though we're no step closer as to who the culprit really is." Dee Dee frowned.

Before Garfield, Brenda and Cavey could say anything, the door behind them suddenly slammed shut, and there was an obnoxious _click_ accompanying the slam.

Garfield and the girls shared looks with each other before he quickly rushed over to the door and tried to turn the doorknob, only to find it stuck.

"Houston, we've got a problem." Garfield said as he tried to pull the door open.

"Please don't tell me that we're locked in this room." Brenda said.

"I'm afraid we are." Dee Dee remarked.

* * *

Back at the stage, the Chan Clan were well underway with their rehearsal on stage.

Henry was behind the drumset and he looked towards Stanley and Anne, who were both holding their guitars.

Stanley, who's the lead guitar in their sibling band, glanced back towards Henry, who nodded at him as the technicians prepared.

Alan was making sure his alto sax was in tune while Tom prepared his trumpet, all as Suzie was standing behind the keyboard.

Flip, who's the youngest in the band, was also on stage, anxiously preparing his tenor saxophone.

Alan glanced at his younger brother, and it was clear that he can see that Flip was nervous about performing on stage.

"Flip, you okay?" Alan asked as he reached his hand to his brother.

Turning towards Alan, Flip shrugged, "I'm okay, it's just that 這是我第一次 (this is my first time) performing on stage."

Alan nodded understandingly, knowing that Flip was code-switching from English to Cantonese like he and the younger siblings typically do while communicating with each other at home.

"不用擔心。" (Don't worry.) He said reassuringly. "You will do just fine, Flip. Just relax."

"Okay, if you say so..." Flip shrugged.

It was then that the technicians gave Henry the thumbs up, and Blaney nodded at them.

"Chan Clan, it's your cue." He said through the speakerphone.

Stanley turned towards Henry, who nodded at him, and then he turned back towards the seats off stage while the other performers look on from backstage.

With his left hand fingers in position, he glanced at his other siblings, who had also gotten the cue and are ready, before he positioned his right hand near the guitar strings.

The Chans collectively took a breath before they all hit the E-flat major opening chord of _Hit & Miss _as performed by the John Barry Seven.

Once they all hit the opening chord, Stanley began to play the first fifteen notes of the introductory solo guitar part.

Eventually, Henry, Suzie, Anne and the other siblings received their cue from Stanley as they began to play their parts once Stanley reached the fifth bar.

With Suzie playing the keyboard notes, Stanley continued with his part and pumped it in while Henry gently played the drums.

At the beat of the music, most of the people backstage began to nod their heads.

Shaggy also began to subconsciously tap his foot while nodding to the beat of the music, all as Mudsy appeared.

"Now, I don't know much about modern-day music." Mudsy remarked as he joined April, Skip and Augie. "But this sounds like real music to me."

"It is, Mudsy." Skip nodded. "In fact, it's the theme song to the BBC's _Juke Box Jury_ , a popular music panel TV show in the UK."

"Uh...what's a TV show?" Mudsy asked in confusion.

"Hoh boy." Skip remarked as he and Augie glanced at each other.

Watching the Chan pumping away in their rehearsal on stage, Shaggy turned towards the gang as he remarked, "Like, Henry and Stanley sure picked a great piece to perform in the competition."

"Well, it's a shame they didn't decide to incorporate some Bruce Lee moves in their act." Shelly smirked. "Because it could've knocked the socks off the audience and judges, which then leaves room for a star like me to become the centre of the competition."

"Oh, I highly doubt it, Sh-" Daphne was about to continue when a loud crash on stage caused them to jump.

"What now?" Biff asked as they quickly turned back towards the stage.

Upon turning back towards the stage, the group quickly took in what had just happened.

Stanley was in the middle of playing the climax guitar part, his right fingers tingling with the strings and his feet swinging with the beat and was looking upwards when he saw something above the stage came loose.

Instinctively, he abruptly stopped his playing before he quickly pushed Alan, Tom and Flip out of harm's way.

And just in time, too. No sooner did he push his younger siblings out of harm's way did the stage prop crash right onto the spot where the trio were standing at just seconds earlier.

When the others joined them on stage and surveyed the damage, it was clear that the younger siblings were shocked by what they had just witnessed.

Shaggy's eyes first went to the crashed prop before they rolled towards the top and stopped at where the prop was installed at.

"You've got to be kidding me." He finally said.

"No kidding, Shag." Stanley agreed. "That was a close one, too."

"Are you guys all right?" Daphne asked in concern as she, Velma, April, Clam and Biff rushed over to the Chan Clan.

"We're fine." Henry quickly said as they gathered together. "Though as Stan said, that was a close one."

"Yeah, and judging from what just happened, my best guess is that this prop came loose while you guys were in the middle of your rehearsal." Fred said.

"But how could it come loose?" Suzie asked. "It's not like we were performing heavy rock music."

"I don't know, but regardless, it seems like our plans for rehearsing smoothly on stage has went up in smoke!" Alan said.

"Went up in smoke?" Bubbles asked. "But how did your plan went up in smoke if there's nothing on fire here?"

"Bubblehead." Shelly sighed. "He meant that the plan didn't go well as intended."

It was then that the whole theater went dark as a loud, haunted laughter filled the space, then the same haunting voice exclaimed, "Christine must win!"

Once the lights returned, as Barbot and Blaney joined the group, Biff said, "Regardless, someone sure wants Christine to win very badly."

"And that someone will see to that at any cost." Velma nodded. "It's times like this that tells us that we need to draw a firm line and say that 'enough is enough.'"

"What better way to do that than warning Christine and her sister to back off?" Daphne added as she gestured discreetly towards the Damon sisters, who were standing backstage and were watching the whole thing go down.

The others followed the redhead's gaze and glanced at the sisters before they nodded thoughtfully.

* * *

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	8. Two clues in one secret room

Chapter 8: Two clues in one secret room

Back in the secret storage room, Garfield, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels were trying to figure out a way to get out after finding themselves locked inside.

"Are you guys willing to bet that the culprit that just locked us in this room didn't want us to find about the diamond thefts?" Brenda asked.

"One hundred percent yes." Garfield said. "Which means we're definitely getting somewhere."

"Though this won't do us any good if we're locked up in this room." Taffy pointed out.

"Yes, though I'm certain that Cavey has the right tools to help get us out." Dee Dee said as they turned towards the caveman. "Don't you, Cavey?"

"Unga." Cavey nodded as he once again reached into his fur.

This time, the caveman wasted no time finding his club before he exclaimed, "CAPTAIN CAAAAAAAAVEMAAAAAAAAN!"

With the loud holler, the caveman lifted his club as he rushed towards the door, and Garfield and the girls winced as Cavey wasted no effort smashing the locked door down with his club.

"We're free!" Brenda exclaimed as they stepped out of the room. "Great job, Cavey!"

"Aw, shucks." Cavey's cheeks burned as Brenda kissed him, during which Garfield joined them with the guide book in hand.

"Captain Caveman, keep this guide in your fur space." Garfield said. "It's our first clue."

"Unga." Cavey nodded as he took the guide from Garfield and placed it into his fur.

"Now that we're free, we should perhaps go find the others." Brenda suggested.

"Maybe, but I'm sure it will be a great idea for us to find out where the passageway leads us to." Dee Dee said as she pointed towards the left with her flashlight.

"Dee Dee's right." Garfield said. "At the very least, we should be able to get a good idea on how the Phantom was able to get around the venue without being seen."

"Especially if the Phantom was able to make it to the hotel and slip that threatening note without getting detected." Taffy added.

"Then, what are we waiting for?" Dee Dee urged. "Let's get moving."

As Cavey and the Teen Angels moved out, Garfield turned around and was about to follow them down the passageway when something else on the bookshelf caught his eye.

"Garfield?" Dee Dee asked when she saw that Garfield hasn't followed them down the passageway.

"One minute." Garfield called back. "I think I might have found something else."

The other girls and Cavey soon joined Dee Dee as they waited for the air cadet, who then emerged from the room with a thick binder in hand.

"What's that binder for, Garfield?" Taffy asked as she pointed at the binder.

"It has something to do with the mystery Mystery Inc. and I cleared here last year, something that has been bothering me since I made my visit to the police yesterday." Garfield said before nodding forward and added, "I'll explain later once we regroup with the others."

The Teen Angels glanced at each other before they nodded thoughtfully and followed Garfield down the passageway.

* * *

Meanwhile, over at the main stage, the rehearsals was put on hold following the close-call the Chan Clan had earlier while on stage.

"There's gotta be something that can give us a clue regarding the culprit that messed with the stage prop up here." Biff remarked as he and the Neptunes, except for Jabberjaw, stood on the catwalk backstage, near the area where the damaged stage prop was at.

"And while you guys are up there, we'll check out the damaged stage prop down here and see if it can provide us with a clue." Fred nodded as he looked up towards Biff and the Neptunes from the stage.

"Well, whatever clue we're looking for, we need to find it fast." Shelly grumbled. "Because we've got a rehearsal to go through, and I don't want to use up too much of my throat spray fine-tuning my singing voice."

"Not to mention that Bubbles is a little afraid of heights." Clam added as he gestured towards Bubbles, who was looking nervous as she looked down towards the stage from the catwalk they are on.

"Well, maybe Bubblehead should go join Flubberjaw and Mystery Inc. down there if she's afraid of falling off the catwalk here." Shelly said before turning towards Bubbles. "Wouldn't you?"

"Oh, me?" Bubbles asked before chuckling and added, "What makes you think I'm afraid of heights?"

"Your legs are shaking." Shelly deadpanned. "Besides, we can feel the vibrations your shaky legs has passed onto the catwalk, so it might be better, not just for you, but also for us, if you head down and join Jabber and Mystery Inc. down there."

"If you say so, Shelly." Bubbles shrugged before she made her way towards the nearby ladder backstage.

As Bubbles climbed down the ladder, Velma said, "I think I found something, guys."

"What is it, Velma?" Daphne asked as they turned towards the auburn-haired girl, who was knelt down by the side of the damaged stage prop.

"This." Velma declared as she pulled out a hatch and showed it to the others. "This hatch is supposed to fasten the prop firmly to the ceiling, yet if you guys take a closer look, you will see that the straps has been cut off."

"Like, almost in a similar fashion to the weak acid that slowly ate away the fabric of the straps of Taffy's drum set." Shaggy pointed out.

"Exactly, Shaggy." Velma nodded. "Now, the culprit didn't cut the strap all the way, instead it was cut in a way so that the weight of the prop will continue to tear the fabric apart until the noise vibrations from the Chan Clan's rehearsal caused the remainder of the fabric to snap."

"Sending the whole prop crashing down onto the stage below." Fred said as Velma got up with the buckle and the attached strap in hand.

"And it was a good thing that Stanley was looking upwards during the rehearsal, because who knows how things would've turned out if he didn't spot the prop crashing down from above and moved his siblings out of harm's way in time." Daphne added.

"Indeed." Fred nodded in agreement.

Before the blonde could say something, Biff called out, "Got something too, guys."

"What have you guys got?" Fred asked as the gang looked up towards the catwalk.

"It's more of a theorization based on the untouched star props that were hung from the ceiling at the same height as the prop that crashed down." Clam said.

"What did you guys managed to theorize?" Velma asked as she adjusted her glasses.

"Well, each of these star props that are hung from the ceiling up here are equipped with four buckles each, along with a pair of straps." Biff said.

"The top buckles on each prop is around five foot seven above the surface of the catwalk, in addition to being located one foot nine away from the catwalk." Clam continued.

"And by measuring the height of the railing of the catwalk and using estimates from average body heights with the surmise that the culprit leaned on the railing while in the process of cutting the straps, we can determine the height range of the culprit." Shelly folded her arms.

"Okay, so what height do you guys think the culprit is?" Velma asked.

"No shorter than five foot nine and no taller than five foot eleven." Biff answered.

The gang shared looks with each other, and Velma frowned as she looked at the strap and buckle on her hand.

Noticing the frown on Velma's face, Fred asked, "What are you thinking, Velms?"

"Well, I'm just trying to visualize how the fabric of the strap was cut, Freddie." Velma replied as she pointed at the segment of the cut that was closer to the edges.

"And you think you can figure out how the culprit cut the strap early on." Shelly offered as she and the rest of the Neptunes climbed down the ladder from the catwalk.

"Exactly what I was thinking." Velma nodded as she examined the cut.

Her eyebrows formed into a furrow as she take a close look at the fabric of the strap, and then she look up and turned towards the others.

"The strap was partially cut open by a blade sawing away at it like a saw." Velma explained. "The occasional bits of string on the cut confirms that someone was using a crude blade, likely something that isn't a knife but nonetheless sharp enough to cut through something, to saw away at the straps."

Biff leaned down to take a closer look at the strap, then he nodded.

"I agree." Biff said as he turned towards the others as Velma got up. "We're gonna be looking for someone who may have something on his or her person that is sharp enough to be utilized as a blade."

As Biff made the remark, Shaggy glanced towards the nearby door to the hallway from backstage, where the Damon sisters were standing at.

He noticed that the older sister was wearing an arm guard-like bracelet decorated with large triangle-shaped metal pieces, and even though he was standing a good distance away from them, he noticed how sharp the edges of the decorations were.

"Like the sharp triangle-shaped decorations on the bracelet worn by Christine's sister, perhaps?" He offered as he pointed his thumb towards the sisters discreetly.

The others turned towards where the sisters were standing at, where by that point, they both have taken their leaves.

Daphne paused her lips as she recalled seeing Christine's sister wearing an arm guard-like bracelet decorated with large triangle-shaped metal pieces, then turning towards the strap Velma was holding, she nodded.

"Probably requires a lot of effort in cutting the straps, but close enough." Daphne said.

* * *

Meanwhile, Garfield and the Teen Angels' trekking through the secret passageways has soon led them to the maintenance passageways of the Underground City.

In spite of the maze-like layout of the passageways, it didn't take long for Garfield to figure out a way to pinpoint their exact location within the Underground City.

"So this is the Underground City of Montreal, isn't it?" Dee Dee asked Garfield.

"Yes." Garfield nodded. "Though an indoor city would be a more-accurate description of the Underground City, since not all of the segments of the Underground City is underground."

"And it can get us to anywhere in downtown Montreal without the need for us to step outdoors?" Taffy asked.

"That's right." Garfield nodded. "And given the nature of the maintenance passageways linked to the individual buildings and indoor businesses in the Underground City, it doesn't take much for us to figure out how the culprit was able to get around and steal those minerals or diamonds without being seen."

"Though how would the Phantom be able to get to City Hall to steal the Clean Mineral without getting spotted if the building isn't connected to the Underground City?" Brenda asked.

"Likely through one of these secret passageways that broke off from the Underground City and made its way to City Hall." Garfield said before nodding towards the front and added. "Come on."

* * *

By the time Garfield and the Teen Angels have returned to the venue and regrouped with the others, it was getting close to 18:00.

"So what did you guys find?" Fred asked as they regrouped.

Garfield and Dee Dee spent the next ten minutes talking about the secret room in the secret passageway, its connection to a system of maintenance passageways linked to the Underground City and the trips they've made to City Hall and the Ville Marie police station.

"So that's how your diamond robber managed to get away with those two priceless diamonds on display." Henry remarked after the explanations.

"Yes." Garfield nodded. "The police are now considering the possibility that the robber must be someone with knowledge of those passageways that are normally used by maintenance personnel."

"And given that the culprit was dressed as a Phantom while stealing the Clean Mineral, with the legend of a phantom haunting this venue, it is reasonable to conclude that the robber has gotta be someone working here in the venue." Dee Dee added. "Someone who has knowledge of the hidden room not shown in the plan view and the network of passageways."

"Right." Fred nodded.

"What about you guys?" Taffy asked as they turned towards the others.

April, Henry, Biff and Fred wasted no time explaining to Garfield and the Teen Angels about the close call the Chan Clan had during their rehearsal.

"My word!" Garfield remarked as he turned towards Henry. "你們還好嗎?" (Are you guys alright?)

"我們都還好，沒有人受傷。" (We're all okay, no one got hurt.) Henry said assuringly. "Though we were all shaken up by that close call."

"I'll say." Dee Dee nodded. "Did you guys find any clues?"

"Yeah, we did." Velma said as she produced the damaged straps.

She and the others then broke down what they've theorized so far, including the estimations the Neptunes used for determining the culprit's height and the possible weapon used for cutting the straps.

"First, a broken foot." Garfield said as they all glanced at Taffy's cast. "Then, a crash that almost injured the Chans. This culprit is sure bent on making sure that Christine wins this contest."

"And it doesn't take much to figure out that whoever's responsible for this isn't gonna stop with his or her attempts to sabotage our chances." Skip pointed out.

"For once, I strongly agree with you on that, little bro." Augie said.

"Little bro?" Skip turned towards Augie. "I was born just seconds before you were!"

"Well, if I remember correctly, my Mom told me that you were born a few minutes, not seconds, after I was." Augie retorted.

As the brothers began to argue, the others turned towards Garfield as he warned, "Either way, I'm sure that the culprit is gonna figure out that we're onto him or her, and I can definitely guarantee that a more desperate attempt at sabotage would be attempted."

"Right." Velma said as everyone else nodded firmly. "Anyways, given what we've know so far, there's gonna be a list of suspects who we believe are responsible for the Phantom appearances."

"The top of the list would definitely be Christine's sister." Daphne pointed out. "After all, she certainly is eager to win this contest."

"Yeah, especially considering her family background." Garfield nodded. "Knowing the Damons, I strongly suspect that they will definitely try to do something for them to win at any cost."

"And what about the assistant manager Mr. Blaney?" Clam asked as he pointed towards Blaney, who was standing off-stage and yelling instructions to the stage crew. "He certainly seems obsessed with cleanliness."

"And?" Shelly placed her hands on her hips.

"You mentioned that there were two diamonds stolen in the city earlier, Garfield." Jabber pointed out. "One of which is known as the Clean Mineral."

"Yes." Garfield nodded. "And the other diamond, the one that was stolen first, is the Water Crystal, so named due to its unusual shine when placed under water."

"Which means we might be looking at someone who's stealing the diamonds for the sake of a collection related to cleanliness." Stanley pointed out.

The others shared glances with each other before they all nodded thoughtfully.

"What about Mr. Barbot, the general manager?" April asked.

"Well, he seems like an easy-going guy, but he seems like he might be hiding something when we pointed out the secret passageways on the floor plan." Fred frowned.

"Especially with the way he glanced towards the left when he said that he never had the time to read the floor plans." Biff folded his arms.

"Why does one looking towards the left seem significant?" Bubbles asked. "Doesn't everyone look towards the left from time to time?"

"Well, it's not empirical science." Garfield said. "However, it has been observed that most of the time when someone tells a lie, he or she has a tendency to glance towards the left."

"Not that it was scientifically proven." Velma added.

"Though given that we were locked inside that secret room not long after meeting with him and splitting up with you guys, do you honestly think he might have something to do with this whole mess?" Dee Dee folded her arms.

"Could be." Henry said. "After all, no one else was in his office but us and him."

"Though even then, we still lack possible motive for Barbot's involvement in this, if he's even involved." Biff pointed out.

Garfield frowned when something occurred to him, and he looked up towards the others.

"Is something wrong, Garfield?" Daphne asked.

"Well..." Garfield said. "Remember the motive behind that ghost knight mess we dealt with here last year?"

"Yes, as I recall, the culprit, Mr. Rempel, was covering up his embezzling activities." Velma said. "Why did you ask?"

"It just so happened that I've followed up on that case with Captain Clouseau during my visit to the station yesterday, and he mentioned that while Rempel would definitely be receiving a heavy sentence for embezzlement and conspiracy to commit robbery, the embezzled funds haven't been accounted for since we cleared that case." Garfield said before reaching into Cavey's fur and pulled out the binder he had found in the secret room as he added. "And then, while in that secret room, I found this binder that has financial records that backs that sentiment up."

The gang shared looks with each other, and the others began to catch onto the urgency in Garfield's voice.

"Are you saying that this mess may have some links to that Rempel case last year, Garfield?" Fred folded his arms.

"That's a possibility, especially with what I saw here in the binder." Garfield nodded as he placed the binder onto a nearby table, and the others all leaned forward to take a look as he opened the binder.

"Quarterly financial statements of the venue." Velma frowned as she took a look at the pages in the binder.

"And from what I'm seeing, it seems like the venue hasn't been making much money at all even after last year's mess was cleared up by you guys, and that's in spite of the funding the venue has received from the Quebec government." April nodded.

The group all shared looks with each other, and there were some frowns forming on the faces.

"And all this time, we all thought that Rempel was acting alone in all of that." Daphne remarked.

"Exactly, since this binder has statements and transaction records that can account for the embezzled funds that remained unaccounted for." Garfield nodded in agreement.

"Which means officially, our case from last year has been reopened, gang." Fred declared.

"Yes." Velma nodded. "What we're gonna have to figure out now is where does Barbot fit into all of this."

"Exactly." The others all nodded in agreement.

As the group decided to break for the night, unbeknownst to any of them, a shadowed figure was watching them from a distance down the hallway.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	9. Night time and another encounter

Chapter 9: Night time and another encounter

The group were completely worn out by the events from the day, especially with the practices and investigations.

The Teen Angels, in particular, were also worn out by their trip to the hospital and their trek with Garfield through the secret passageways.

The toll of the days events were evidenced by Fred almost immediately falling asleep the minute he, Shaggy and Scooby returned to their hotel room after dinner.

"First time Freddie has fallen asleep before us, eh Scoob?" Shaggy remarked at the sight of Fred snoring away on his bed, having had barely changed into his pajamas.

"Reah." Scooby agreed. "Ri've never reen him ris tired before."

"Not unless you count the times he has drove us long distance." Shaggy offered.

"Rue." Scooby nodded before gesturing towards the bed and added, "Rall we?"

* * *

 _May 14, 1972_

Fast forward to a few hours later, the group were all fast asleep in their respective rooms in their hotel.

Well, saying that everyone is fall asleep is more of an overstatement.

In spite of him being completely worn out by the practices and running around, Shaggy found himself wide awake as a result of Fred and Scooby's snoring.

"I should've lay off on the poutine during dinner." Shaggy groaned as he stretched his arms before rubbing his forehead. "With Scoob and Freddie snoring, there's no way I'm gonna fall asleep like this."

Some minutes went by before Shaggy reluctantly dragged himself out of his bed, and he swiftly grabbed his room key on his way to the door.

"Perhaps a walk around the hotel should clear my mind and put it to the right mindset." He thought to himself as he quietly opened the door.

The hallway was mostly deserted when Shaggy stepped out of his room, and though the lights remained on, he was a little unnerved by the haunting appearance.

"Well, here goes." Shaggy thought to himself as he began walking towards the elevators.

Unbeknownst to Shaggy, as he rounded a corner down the hallway, a shadowed figure from the opened-door suite with the ice machine was watching him.

As that was happening, Daphne was also lying on her bed wide awake in her and Velma's room.

"I definitely shouldn't have tried that second slice of cheesecake for dessert." The redhead thought to herself as she pulled herself out of her bed.

Grabbing her room key and walking towards the door, Daphne thought, "Well, I'm sure that a little walk around the hotel should put my mind at ease."

With that in mind, Daphne quietly turned the door knob and stepped out of her room.

Several rooms ahead, Shaggy was about to reach the elevator when someone said, "Hey Shag."

Shaggy almost jumped before he turned around, relaxing when he saw Augie standing behind him.

"Hey, Augie." Shaggy said. "Also couldn't sleep?"

"Yeah, courtesy of that pencil neck of a brother, who wouldn't stop snoring." Augie rolled his eyes as he joined Shaggy. "I could've sworn that our room sounded like a construction zone."

"That bad, eh?" Shaggy chuckled.

"You don't even know how bad his snoring is back at home." Augie deadpanned. "Anyways, you also having trouble sleeping?"

"Yeah, like, it might be the poutine I had for dinner." Shaggy shrugged. "Was thinking that a little walk around the hotel should put our minds at ease."

"I sure wouldn't mind joining you in the walk, Shag." Augie nodded forward. "Do you think we should take the elevator?"

Eying the nearby door to the stairwell, Shaggy replied. "I was thinking of taking the stairs downstairs instead."

"Sounds good." Augie nodded again. "Let's go."

As Shaggy and Augie made their way down the stairs, Daphne was just a few doors away from the elevator when she was joined by Suzie.

"Hey Suzie." Daphne greeted. "Having trouble sleeping?"

"Yeah." Suzie nodded. "Especially when you consider that close call we had during rehearsal, it's bound to keep you awake."

"I'd imagine." Daphne agreed. "Was thinking that a little walk around the hotel should put our minds at ease."

"Sounds good." Suzie smiled as they approached the elevator. "Should we take the elevator?"

"I was thinking that the stairs would be better." Daphne shrugged.

"Sure, whatever you say." Suzie shrugged as well before she followed the redhead through the door and into the stairwell.

* * *

Three stories down, Shaggy and Augie were looking around as they walked down the stairs.

The stairwell certainly looked haunting, and Shaggy swallowed.

"Like, I'd rather put up with being trapped in a haunted place than not being able to sleep at all." Shaggy said as he turned towards Augie as he added, "Wouldn't you agree, Augie?"

"No argument from me, Shag." Augie replied. "If we can't sleep at all, we won't be able to get through with the day the next day."

Shaggy nodded in agreement as they continued on down the stairs.

Three stories above them, Daphne and Suzie were glancing around as they walked down the stairs.

"This stairwell certainly looks very creepy." Daphne remarked. "Though being trapped in a dark, haunting place like this is nothing compared to not being able to sleep at all."

"I concur." Suzie nodded in agreement. "Especially with the difference in time zones, it's gonna be a pain not being able to sleep on the eve of a very long day."

Just as Suzie finished that remark, a ghostly-sounding howl stopped them in their tracks.

Caught off guard by the howl, Suzie almost jumped onto Daphne as she said, "I take it back, I take it back!"

Meanwhile, three stories below the girls, Shaggy and Augie were holding onto each other in fright.

"What was that?" Augie asked.

"Like, I think it was probably a ghost." Shaggy replied before he and Augie's eyes widened in fright and they both exclaimed, "A GHOST?!"

With a scream, the two boys quickly raced towards the closest door and pushed it open.

As that was happening, Daphne and Suzie looked downwards.

"Oh, it was probably just the air ventilation passing through the stairwell, combined with the siren from a passing emergency vehicle." Suzie said.

"Well, come on." Daphne urged as they resumed down the stairs. "We don't want to spend all night wondering around here, don't we?"

"No, we don't." Suzie shook her head, only for them to pause when a door downstairs slammed shut suddenly.

The two girls shivered in fright as they glanced at each other in fright, then they both swallowed.

"What do you think that was?" Suzie asked nervously.

"I don't know." Daphne shook her head before nodding at the nearby door and added, "But I don't think I wanna stick around and find out!"

"Quick!" Suzie agreed as they raced to the door and pulled it open.

Three stories below, Shaggy and Augie were standing at the elevators.

"I think it's probably safer for us to use the elevator." Augie said as he pushed the up button.

"Yeah." Shaggy agreed. "At least we won't have to deal with those spooky noises in the stairwell."

Augie nodded just as the elevator dinged, and the duo turned towards the elevator as the doors opened.

Once inside the car, Shaggy reached over to push the button for the ninth floor as the doors began to close.

As the car slowly moved up the stories, Shaggy checked his watch and his eyebrows furrowed.

"Like, it's almost two in the morning." He said.

"Well, hopefully we won't be dealing with the noise when we get back to our rooms." Augie remarked.

Shaggy was about to say something when the elevator stopped and dinged, and the duo turned towards the doors as they open, only to be greeted by a shocking sight.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as Augie's hair spiked in fright. "Th-th-the phantom!"

Sure enough, standing outside the elevator was the Phantom, who raised his arms up towards the duo in a menacing fashion.

"Quick!" Augie exclaimed as he quickly reached over to push the close button.

With the doors closing in quickly, the Phantom tried to reach over to stop the elevator doors from closing completely, only for the doors to completely close.

Shaggy and Augie sighed in relief as the elevator resumed moving upwards, though the relief was short-lived when the elevator came to a complete stop at the sixth floor again.

When the doors opened, the Phantom was waiting for them on the other side again.

"Oh, not again!" Augie said.

The Phantom growled as he made his way into the car, only for Shaggy to quickly push him out.

"Sorry, man." He said as he pushed the Phantom out of the car. "Like, this elevator can only fit two people at a time."

As that was happening, Augie quickly pushed the close button again, and as quick as a fox, Shaggy quickly rushed back inside, in time for the elevator doors to completely close behind him.

The elevator lurched upwards once again, only to slow down and come to a complete stop when it reached the seventh floor.

When the door opened, Shaggy and Augie, assuming that the Phantom has managed to catch up to them via the stairwell next door like he did when they were moving from the fifth to sixth floor, screamed once again.

However, this time, it was Daphne and Suzie who were standing on the other side of the door, and the two girls screamed as well when the door opened and Shaggy and Augie were screaming.

The elevator doors quickly closed, and Daphne and Suzie glanced at each other in shock.

"I wasn't expecting to see two others in the elevator like that!" Suzie exclaimed.

"Nor was I." Daphne said before nodding at the stairwell door and added, "Come on, I think the elevators bound to give us nasty surprises when the door opens, so we're gonna take the stairs."

"Sure thing." Suzie nodded as Daphne pushed the door open, only for their hairs to spike in horror as the Phantom is revealed to be standing at the other side of the door.

The Phantom growled at the two girls menacingly as he stepped out of the stairwell while Daphne backtracked.

"Jeepers!" Daphne exclaimed. "If it isn't the elevators that was giving us the spooky surprise, then it's the stairwell!"

"Run!" Suzie urged as she grabbed Daphne by the arm and took off running.

The Phantom roared again before he took off after the duo, chasing them down the hallway.

As the chase began to speed up, there were various occasions where the trio had to jump over or duck under the various objects down the hallway.

Eventually, the chase led them to a door leading to another stairwell, and without stopping, the girls raced up the stairs with the Phantom in close pursuit!

A short while later, the chase brought the trio to the ninth floor, whereupon the girls exited the door and raced down the hallway with the Phantom behind them.

Suzie soon led them to one of the doors down the hallway, where she quickly unlocked it and led Daphne and the Phantom into the room.

Almost immediately, Shelly and Bubbles raced out of the door with the Phantom now chasing them!

"Thanks for disturbing my beauty sleep!" Shelly snapped at the Phantom as she and Bubbles run frantically.

Running diagonally, the trio soon entered another room, and a short while later, Henry, Stanley, Alan, Tom and Flip emerged out of it, now chased by the Phantom.

By this point, Shaggy and Augie had reached the latter's room.

"Alright, see you later, Shag." Augie said.

"Yeah, same to you, man." Shaggy nodded in agreement. "Sleep tight."

Augie nodded, though he and Shaggy were interrupted by a door slamming shut not too far down the hallway.

Turning to look, the duo saw, to their horror, the Phantom chasing the Teen Angels down the hallway.

"Does that Phantom ever give up?" Augie moaned as he and Shaggy quickly abandon the door and raced out of the way, in time for the Teen Angels to be chased into his room by the Phantom.

Almost immediately, the door opened again and Skip emerged from it, screaming as he was chased by the Phantom.

"The PHANTOM!" Skip screamed as he caught up with Shaggy and Augie with the Phantom in close pursuit.

The Phantom growled as he chased the trio down the hallway and rounded a number of corners before they disappeared behind the door leading to a public washroom on the floor.

Inside the washroom, the Phantom growled as he looked around, seeing that the washroom is deserted.

As the Phantom looked around, the scene shifted upwards to reveal Shaggy, Skip and Augie sneaking pass the Phantom in the ventilation shaft above him.

However, just as the trio were getting close to the washroom entrance door, Skip accidentally kicked his foot onto the shaft wall too hard, leading to a loud echo that enabled the Phantom to pinpoint their location.

With a menacing snarl, the Phantom picked up the nearby trash bin and threw it right at the spot Skip had kicked his foot onto earlier.

In an instant, the three boys emerged from the shaft from the access panel near the door, and Shaggy shouted, "Gangway!"

The Phantom came close to grabbed the trio before they took off, leading him to growl in frustration before giving chase.

Before long, Shaggy separated with the brothers and the trio simultaneously entered their respective rooms.

The Phantom paused briefly as he tries to figure out which door to enter, eventually settling on Shaggy's room.

After the Phantom entered Shaggy's room, a short minute later, Fred, Shaggy and Scooby emerged from their room, chased by the Phantom, and raced into the room across the hallway.

Then, Daphne and Velma raced out of their room with the Phantom in close pursuit, and they raced into another room across the hallway.

After that, the door opened again and April was running across the hallway with the Phantom behind her.

Running across the hallway, April and the Phantom entered another room, then the Phantom emerged from the room with Suzie, Anne and Nancy chasing him.

It was then followed by Dee Dee and Brenda racing across the hallway, though the duo got stuck briefly while attempting to run through the doorway in the same time.

The two girls wiggled briefly before they managed to get through, and then Biff and Clam raced out of the doorway with Jabber close behind.

What followed was everyone simultaneously exiting a room, racing across the hallway and entering another room at random.

At one point, Scooby came upon a locked door, and he began pounding on the locked door with the Phantom joining in.

The Great Dane eventually spotted the Phantom and swallowed before taking off across the hallway, with the Phantom following suit shortly afterwards.

The chase sequence resumes, where everyone once again randomly exits a room, races across the hallway and enters another room.

Eventually, the Phantom chased Cavey and Jabber into one room, with the duo slamming the door shut before the Phantom could get in.

Growling, the Phantom tried to force the door open, which he did eventually, though as he managed to opened the door, Mudsy appeared on the other side and his hair spiked in shock.

"Heavens to Delaware!" Mudsy exclaimed. "The Phantom!"

However, no one was more surprised than the Phantom himself, who also jumped in horror.

"Mon dieu!" (My word!) The Phantom exclaimed at the sight of Mudsy. "Une fantôme!" (A ghost!)

Without missing a beat, the Phantom quickly took off down the hallway and Mudsy blinked as he watched the Phantom running down the hallway.

"I must've scared him away." Mudsy remarked before closing the door, turned inwards and added, "You guys can come out now."

At Mudsy's command, all of the kids emerged from their hiding spots in the room.

"The Phantom's gone, Mudsy?" Brenda asked.

"Affirmative." Mudsy nodded. "You guys are safe now."

"Kinda funny how we're hiding from the Phantom while a real ghost is looking after us." Clam remarked as they all got out of their hiding spots.

"You're telling me." Shaggy said.

"Anyways, I wonder what was that all about?" Henry asked as they all stepped out of the room.

"I'll say that the Phantom was here to take care of something." Mudsy offered.

"But what is it that the Phantom wants that will lead to him going through the trouble of crashing our night time rest?" Velma asked.

"I don't know, but it seems like the Phantom has left something behind." April said as she pointed towards something on the floor.

The group turned towards where April was pointing at, and Stanley stepped forward and picked up the sheet of paper.

"It's a newspaper article, guys." Stanley declared.

"What does it say?" Fred asked as he stepped forward.

"Beats me, it's published in French." Stanley said as he scanned the page. "Though this paper appears to date back to April or August 1971."

"April or August 1971?" Daphne folded her arms.

"Whatever it is about, I got a sneaking suspicion it has something to do with the ghost chevalier case last year, gang." Fred said.

"Only thing we need to do regarding this is confirming the content of the article with Garfield first thing the next morning." Dee Dee said.

"And speaking of mornings, it's past two in the early morning." Augie said as he glanced at his watch. "We should all hit the sack for the day ahead."

Everyone else nodded in agreement before they split up and returned to their respective rooms to turn in for the night.

* * *

 **Note: If any of you thought that the dialogues and chase sequence looked familiar, it's because I've incorporated them from _The New Scooby-Doo Movies_ episode _Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner?,_ the first of two episodes in the series to guest star Don Knotts.**

 **Please read and review!**


	10. Practice and the First Phantom

Chapter 10: Practice and the First Phantom

Not surprisingly, the contestants all slept in as a result of the chase they went through the previous night.

By the time the group all woke up, it was almost ten in the morning.

After a quick brunch, the group made their way back to the Place des Arts complex, though their first stop is at the Théâtre Maisonneuve, where Garfield and the RCAC Youth Orchestra is doing their practice.

Garfield and the cadets were taking a break from their practice when the group arrived at the venue, and the WO1 wasted no time walking over to them when he saw them enter.

"Hey guys." Garfield said in greeting.

"Hey Garfield." April nodded. "You have a minute?"

Garfield glanced at his watch before noting the looks on their faces and said, "Maybe. What's going on?"

"It's the Phantom again." Fred said. "He showed up in our hotel in the early morning and chased us around."

"Lucky for us, Mudsy scared him away when he tried to break into our room." Skip added.

"And the Phantom left this newspaper page behind when he ran off after Mudsy scared him away." Suzie added as Dee Dee produced the newspaper page from Cavey's fur and handed it to Garfield.

Garfield frowned as he looked at the newspaper page and scanned the article, then he looked up and nodded.

"Clearly, whoever is doing this is going through great lengths to attract our attention to last year's case." Garfield said.

"Definitely someone who feels that we're getting warm on the financial trail." Henry interjected. "A financial trail that paints a picture of something fishy going on at the venue, something fishy that relates to that embezzlement case you guys cracked last year."

"But wouldn't something fishy involve plenty of fish around here?" Bubbles asked.

"Bubblehead, he meant that there's something not right going on at the venue." Shelly groaned.

"Anyways, we may have to check out Mr. Barbot's office to confirm our suspicions." Fred said.

"Sounds like a reasonable course of action to me, Fred." Garfield nodded. "However, we're definitely gonna have to be careful going forward with this, especially when you add in yesterday's close call."

"Agreed." The Chans all nodded in agreement as the air cadet checked his watch.

"Anyways, break is almost over." Garfield said. "Would you guys like to stick around and watch us rehearse?"

The group shared glances with each other before Daphne said, "We won't miss it for the world, Garfield."

"Yeah, I'm sure we can use the free time to see you in action." Augie added.

"In that case, follow me." Garfield smiled as he motioned them to follow him into the theatre.

* * *

A short while later, the group found themselves sailing through the rough waters of the North Atlantic Ocean near the Hebrides off the coast of Scotland on a cloudy afternoon, amidst the playing of the cello and double bass sections, followed closely by the violins and violas.

The weather was quite damp, not to mention that it was quite foggy.

The waves tumbled near them, rocking the boat as it did so, while the brass section of the orchestra played their notes of Mendelssohn's _The Hebrides_ overture.

In spite of the rough weather and rough waters, the group didn't seemed all that concerned as they turned towards Garfield, who was navigating the boat through the rough waters and ensuring that it stays afloat and upright.

With the flutes, bassons, clarinets and oboes echoing, the fog cleared slightly as the entrance to Fingal's Cave came into view.

The group took the time to enjoy the sight of the sea cave with their mouths hanging open, and there were some murmurs among them as they took in the sight.

With the waves crashing against the shore, everyone on board the boat closed their eyes briefly.

When they all opened their eyes again, the group found themselves seated in the theatre off stage watching Garfield gently waving his hands as he conducted the youth orchestra on stage.

The group silently looked on as Garfield gently swung his hands while the string players plucked their instruments before the stormy section returns, upon which Garfield's hand motions become more pronounced.

In particular, the drum roll on the kettledrums in the back of the orchestra and the stormy performance of the brass section left quite the impression on the group.

"Classical music may not be something I frequently listen to." Biff remarked quietly. "But Garfield sure knows how to put up a performance."

"He sure does." April nodded in agreement.

Eventually, after the cello and double bass players plucked the final B notes, Garfield gently placed his hands down and nodded at the cadets before they proceed to put down their instruments.

The gang and the others subsequently began to clap their hands, and Garfield turned around on the podium and bowed briefly.

"That was spectacular, Garfield." Clam said as they clapped their hands.

"Yeah." Brenda agreed. "Fantastic, even."

Garfield smiled and nodded briefly, then he turned back towards the orchestra as they all flipped a page on their scores.

* * *

After another half hour of rehearsals, during which the group watched Garfield leading the orchestra through another full practice of Antonin Dvořák's _Czech Suite,_ the group took their leaves not long after Garfield stated that he will join them in the afternoon when the orchestra has the rest of the day off.

Upon returning to the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, it was agreed that Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels would continue to try to get to the bottom of the mystery while everyone else continues with their practice and rehearsals for the contest.

"Someone sure is trying very hard to throw us off our game with these reminders of the case which Garfield and Mystery Inc. solved last year." Dee Dee remarked as they walked down the hallway.

"Tell me about it." Brenda agreed. "Especially with the disturbance we had last night at the hotel."

"Someone clearly had followed us to the hotel after we returned to the gang." Taffy said before frowning and added, "Do you guys suppose that the financial records Garfield had found in that secret room had something to do with last night's disturbance?"

The girls and Cavey paused before Dee Dee reached into the caveman's fur and pulled out the binder.

Flipping through the pages in the binder, Dee Dee said, "Well, while it's too soon to jump to any conclusions, especially since the contents are all written in French, from what Garfield has seen so far, there may be pages here that tells us the fate of the embezzled money that was never recovered after last year's case."

"Not to mention the fate of the missing artifacts that were hidden here in the venue in plain sight as theatre props." Taffy added as she flipped through a couple of additional pages and pointed towards a photo of an expensive-looking ring.

"Artifacts that Rempel was accused of stealing but were never recovered even after the case was cracked last year." Dee Dee nodded as she pointed at the ring in the page and added, "Such as the Ring of Rhinegold, which was on loan from the King Ludwig Museum in Munich when it was stolen and interestingly enough, was posed as the prop used for depicting the title ring in performances of Wagner's _Ring Cycle._ "

* * *

"So do the pages provide any ideas on where the embezzled money and the missing artifacts have ended up at, Garfield?" Taffy asked Garfield later that afternoon once the air cadet joined them and took a good read of the pages of the binder.

Garfield frowned as he read through the pages detailing the accounting figures related to the embezzled money and the log figures linked to the missing artifacts.

"Not exactly." Garfield shook his head. "However, I do have a name that keeps popping up in the pages here and there, a name that the gang and I do recall from our case from last year."

"Who's the person named in these pages?" Dee Dee raised an eyebrow.

"The financial manager Jean-Philippe Cloutier." Garfield replied before he frowned as he remembered seeing the financial manager reporting to Mr. Blaney and added, "Though it's kinda weird how Mr. Cloutier is helping Mr. Blaney in setting up the stage decorations while he's supposed to be in his office taking care of the accounting for the venue."

"Either way, I take it that you're thinking that Mr. Cloutier is the person to ask regarding this whole mystery." Dee Dee interjected.

"Exactly what I was thinking." Garfield nodded. "I know where his office is at, so-"

Before Garfield could finish, the smoke alarm suddenly went off, surprising the group.

"What on earth?" Dee Dee asked.

It was then that one of the stage decorators rushed by, and the group quickly flagged him down.

 _"What's going on?"_ Garfield quickly asked.

" _Something inside the financial office has caught fire, likely from some careless guy who was lighting a smoke and forgot to put out the flame on the match before tossing it into the garbage bin._ " The decorator shrugged. " _The office guys are putting out the flame in the office as we speak._ "

After Garfield translated to the girls, Taffy remarked, "Sounds to me that this is more than just a small office fire from a match in the garbage bin, since the smoke alarm is still screaming."

Before the decorator could say anything, their attention was drawn towards evil laughter from down the hallway, and the group turned towards it source.

In the distance, they can see a shadowed figure running down the perpendicular hallway, wearing the top hat and armed with what appeared to be a blowtorch.

"Ah, zut!" (Oh, great!) Garfield muttered. "C'est le Fantôme!" (It's the Phantom!)

"And seems to me that he's armed with a blowtorch!" Dee Dee added.

"Which means he's gonna burn this place down if we don't stop him!" Brenda added.

"Vite!" (Quick!) Garfield urged as he turned towards the decorator. " _Call the fire service and have the building evacuated!_ "

Then, turning towards the Teen Angels, he added, "Meanwhile, we have to stop that Phantom from burning this place down!"

"Right, let's go!" Dee Dee nodded as they quickly followed Garfield's lead down the hallway.

* * *

Backstage, everyone else were looking at each other in confusion as the smoke alarm sounded.

"What's happening?" April asked.

"Sounds like the smoke alarm to me." Biff remarked.

"And if I'm not mistaken, where there's smoke, there's fire." Clam added. "We should definitely evacuate the venue."

Everyone else nodded as they quickly rushed off the stage, though as everyone moved to evacuate the stage area, Scooby's ears picked up something.

"Ruh?" Scooby asked as he stopped and turned back towards the stage.

Shaggy was following the others out of the theatre when he saw Scooby wasn't following them, then he stopped and turned back towards the Great Dane.

"Scoob!" Shaggy urged. "We need to evacuate now!"

"Rait, I rink ri'm hearing something." Scooby said.

"Like, what is it that you're hearing that's more important than evacuating from a place that is on fire, Scoob?" Shaggy asked as Clam and some of the others paused as well.

"Rounds like...re blowtorch." Scooby said.

"Blowtorch?" Shaggy asked before he turned towards the others, who now have their eyebrows raised. "Now why do you suppose someone would be carrying a blowtorch during a fire emergency?"

"Unless you're the one who's creating the emergency with the blowtorch in the first place." Augie pointed out as he, Stanley, Skip, Clam and Alan joined Shaggy and Scooby.

At that remark, the seven turned back towards the stage, in time to see some sparking light coming from one of the curtains.

The sparking light revealed a shadow amidst the fire, and as the seven looked closely, they can see that the shadowed figure was wearing a top hat.

"Wham-bam! Seems to me that the Phantom's up to no good, guys." Stanley said as everyone else stopped in their tracks and turned towards them.

"And what do you suppose the Phantom's up to burning the place and prompting the evacuation?" Clam asked.

"Likely seeking to take advantage of the fire and do something fishy while everyone else is evacuated from the building." Alan answered.

"If that's the case, then we need to stop him now before he burns the place down!" Fred said urgently.

Everyone else nodded as they quickly rushed over towards the stage, during which the Phantom was lighting one of the curtains with the blowtorch when he turned towards the audience stands and saw the group rushing over to the stage.

"Curses!" The Phantom muttered as he quickly dropped what he was doing and instinctively made his way to the nearby ladder and climbed up onto the catwalk above.

As Fred leaped onto the stage, he quickly turned towards the others briefly and said, "Quick! Go grab a fire extinguisher and put out the fires here!"

"What are you gonna do, Freddie?" Velma asked as the others quickly scattered to find fire extinguishers.

"Stopping this madman." Fred answered as he grabbed onto a nearby rope.

It was then that the flames on the curtains spread towards a nearby rope used for keeping a counterweight in place.

With that rope now burnt, the counterweight, which was attached to the rope Fred grabbed onto, dropped down, propelling the blonde into the air and towards the catwalk above before Velma could say something.

The Phantom was making his way down the catwalk when Fred landed on it in front of him, prompting him to retreat.

"Hey!" Fred shouted as he took off after the Phantom. "Get back here!"

As Fred chased after the Phantom on the catwalk, the others managed to find the fire extinguishers and put out much of the flames on the curtains.

"Hurry!" Suzie shouted as she aimed her fire extinguisher towards a higher part of the curtains. "The fire's spreading!"

"He must've dosed the curtains with something flammable like oil." April nodded as she found the nearby fire hose station and grabbed the hose.

With Biff, Shelly, Bubbles, Skip and Augie holding onto the hose from behind, April quickly turned it on, leading it to spray out flame retardant suddenly.

The high pressure from the retardant spraying out from the hose caused April to lurch backwards suddenly, though Shelly managed to stop her from lurching backwards further.

"We got you." Shelly said as April got up. "Hurry and put the flames out!"

April nodded as she quickly aimed the hose towards the flaming curtains.

While that was happening, Fred managed to catch up with the Phantom on the cat walk.

"Not so fast!" Fred exclaimed as he quickly took off his ascot and wrapped it around the Phantom's right leg, which was still hanging in the mid-air as he whipped the ascot around it, and yanked it downwards.

Feeling the tug from Fred's ascot around his right leg, the Phantom unexpectedly yanked it upwards, causing Fred, who was still holding onto his ascot, to be launched into the air and landed on the other end of the catwalk.

Back on the stage, everyone else managed to extinguish much of the flames, during which Shaggy and Scooby looked up towards the catwalk.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as he pointed towards the Phantom as he marched menacingly towards Fred, who was in the midst of picking himself up, "Freddie's in trouble, guys!"

His shouting gained the attention of the Phantom, who responded by grabbing a nearby paper star, lit it on fire with the blowtorch and threw it towards the group holding the fire hose!

Seeing the flaming star sailing towards them, Henry shouted, "Incoming!"

Immediately, the group quickly ducked down, during which Daphne aimed the hose of her fire extinguisher and fired several shots at the flaming star, extinguishing the flames in the process.

"Good shot, Daph!" Velma praised.

As that unfolded, Fred took advantage of the diversion and managed to pick himself up before lurching towards the Phantom.

"Nobody messes with my friends!" He barked as he quickly grabbed onto the Phantom's arm and twisted it, causing the Phantom to yelp in pain.

In response, the Phantom quickly threw a punch towards the blonde, catching him off guard and leading him to stumble backwards towards the edge of the catwalk.

"Fred, look out!" Biff shouted.

Before Fred could heed Biff's words, he stumbled off the catwalk, only to land on the perpendicular catwalk below.

Everyone's relief was short-lived, as the Phantom immediately leaped onto the lower catwalk, picked Fred up and slammed him by the railing.

"Jinkies!" Velma exclaimed as the Phantom inched the blowtorch exhaust towards Fred's chin. "We need to do something!"

"I know!" April said as she tried to aim the fire hose towards where Fred and the Phantom were engaged in their struggle. "But we can't get a good angle from here!"

On the catwalk, Fred gritted his teeth as the Phantom activated the blowtorch once again, intending to use it on the blonde.

Fred tried, to no avail, to pry the blowtorch away from the Phantom, who laughed at him menacingly.

Just then, someone hollered, "CAPTAIN CAAAAAAVEMAAAAAANN!"

"Huh?" The Phantom paused as he turned towards the source.

Everyone else turned around and saw Cavey flying towards the catwalk above the stage while Garfield and the Teen Angels rushed over to join them.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Fred quickly pushed the Phantom away.

The Phantom stumbled backwards down the catwalk, during which Cavey landed in front of him and used his club to yank the blowtorch away from the Phantom.

As Fred rushed over, the Phantom stumbled towards the edge of the catwalk and began to lose his balance as he struggle to remain on the catwalk.

Cavey walked over to the Phantom and then reached over to touch him.

"Tag." He said as he touched the Phantom. "You're it."

Cavey's touch caused the Phantom to fall backwards off the catwalk and landed onto a pile of props below.

As everyone rushed over onto the stage, the gang rushed to Fred as he climbed down the ladder.

"Are you alright, Fred?" Garfield asked in concern.

"Yeah, if it wasn't for Cavey, I'm sure my goose was cooked." Fred said as he nodded towards the caveman.

"Good work, Cavey." Dee Dee praised as they gathered around the Phantom, who was tangled in the pile.

"Unga." Cavey smiled as the sirens began to grow louder by the minute.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	11. Revelations, an encounter and the switch

Chapter 11: Revelations, an encounter and the switch

A short while later, as the fire department worked to extinguish the remaining flames and inspecting the venue for other fire hazards, the group were gathered in the theatre with the police.

The Phantom was unmasked by the police officers at the scene, whereupon Lieutenant Godbout recognized the man as a fugitive wanted for armed robbery and arson and subjected to an arrest warrant in Quebec and New Brunswick.

"So this weasel's the culprit behind the recent mess with the Phantom legend?" Leblanc nodded towards the unmasked Phantom.

"That's right, Officer Leblanc." Garfield nodded as he produced the binder to Godbout and added, "It is my hunch that someone didn't want us to get to the bottom of the fate of the embezzled funds and missing artifacts Milton Rempel was set up as a fall guy to take the blame."

"When we worked on last year's case here, there wasn't any evidence that suggested that Rempel wasn't acting alone in this." Godbout said. "Something must've happened the past couple days that resulted in the mastermind feeling the need to get you kids out of the picture."

"Or hire someone, like Leslie Frum here for instance, to tie up any loose ends and use the fire to dispose of the evidence." Velma pointed out.

"Exactly." Godbout nodded before they turned towards Frum and he added, "Well, whoever thought that hiring you would cease our interest in reopening the Rempel case clearly thought wrong, because now we're more determined than ever to get to the bottom of it."

"And whoever the mastermind behind this clearly instructed Rempel well, because he sure played us for the fools we were." Garfield frowned.

"A mistake we sure won't bother to repeat again." Daphne folded her arms before looking at Frum in the eye and added, "Who hired you to do this?"

With a smirk, Frum replied, "Perhaps now would be a good time for me to contact my barrister."

Wearing a look of disgust on his face, the lieutenant nodded at the nearby officers, who wordlessly escorted the fugitive away not long after informing him of the charges of arson, grand larceny and attempted murder facing him and his right to remain silent.

As Frum was escorted away to be taken into police custody, the fire department announced that the flames have all been put out and that the structure remains safe for occupation.

"Well, now that we've got that out of the way, this still begs the question." Fred declared as he turned around and faced the group. "Who is the mastermind behind all of this mess?"

"And who has the most to gain from those missing diamonds and from Christine Daemon winning the contest?" Brenda added.

Just as Skip made the remark, everyone's attention was drawn towards a loud crash from backstage.

"What now?" Blaney groaned as Barbot made his way towards backstage.

A short while later, the general manager emerged from backstage followed closely by Skip and Augie.

"This is your fault!" Skip snarled at his stepbrother.

"No, this is your fault!" Augie retorted. "If you hadn't touched that castle prop backstage, that counterweight wouldn't have come crashing down onto our drums!"

"Maybe that should teach you to not leave the drums backstage unattended." Skip shouted. "Especially since the drums are one of the very few things left of Dad!"

"Oh, so everything bad that happens is my fault, is it?" Augie snarled.

As the stepbrothers continued their bickering, everyone turned towards April and Mudsy as he appeared.

Watching Skip and Augie trading insults, Garfield turned towards Mudsy.

"Are those two always like that?" The air cadet asked as he gestured towards the stepbrothers.

"Why yes, I believe those two are always like that on a good day." Mudsy replied bluntly.

"And let me guess." Dee Dee added as they turned towards April. "You guys are now quitting the competition because of the damage to your drums?"

"Afraid so." April replied glumly. "Especially since it wasn't the drums that was smashed by that counterweight."

"You don't say." Henry remarked.

As that was happening, Barbot turned towards Blaney.

 _"This is just perfect. Only four contestants left for the contest."_ Barbot said. _"What do you suggest we should do about the contest, especially since it starts tomorrow,_ Henri?"

" _First off, I would like to see increased security in the venue._ " Blaney replied as he and Barbot turned towards Lieutenant Godbout. _"Until the party responsible for these acts of sabotage is caught, there's no telling if someone is gonna get seriously injured through these acts of sabotage."_

" _Which is why we will like to have officers here patrolling the venue grounds until the contest is over, Lieutenant._ " Barbot added.

At that remark, Garfield glanced up and turned towards the three men as the lieutenant replied.

"Pas de problem." (No problem.) Godbout nodded. " _I will see what I can do on that,_ Monsieur Barbot."

"Excellante." Blaney said as he took out a spray bottle and proceeded to spray his hands.

Watching Blaney spraying his hands, Garfield raised an eyebrow as he recalled the hand-spraying motion he and the investigators saw on the surveillance tape two days ago.

As Blaney took his leave, Garfield frowned as he watched the man walking down the hallway.

* * *

A short while later, the remaining contestants resumed with their rehearsals and practices while the Teen Angels and Garfield made the trip to the police station with Godbout, who was in his office taking statements from Cloutier.

The lieutenant nodded in acknowledgement as Garfield and the Teen Angels arrived at the bullpen, and he motioned them to enter his office and take a seat.

Taffy was quick to take up Godbout's offer and took a seat while Garfield, Brenda, Dee Dee and Cavey remained standing.

Once Godbout finished writing down Cloutier's statement, he turned towards the sleuths as he said, "Now, I believe that Mr. Wu and his friends here have some questions that they would like to ask you, Mr. Cloutier."

"The questions...they're about the contents of that binder from the secret room, isn't it?" Cloutier asked as the sleuths stood/sat closer.

"Yes, they are, Mr. Cloutier." Dee Dee nodded as Garfield pointed at the opened binder on the desk and continued, "As the venue's finance manager, you do recognize the binder and the details of its contents, correct?"

"Yes, I do." Cloutier nodded.

"And I take it that you know about the Rempel case from last year, do you?" Garfield pressed.

"Oh, how could I forget that." Cloutier sighed. "I've worked with Milton for quite some time, and even today I still can't believe that he did what he did all these years, robbing money from the venue and stealing those countless artifacts."

"Yes, though as you may know, the embezzled funds and the several of the missing artifacts were never recovered." Godbout said urgently. "We were hoping that you could paint us a good picture on where they could've ended up at all these months later."

Cloutier sighed again, and Godbout, Garfield and the Teen Angels shared glances with each other.

"There's got to be a reason why your office got torched by Frum earlier, Mr. Cloutier." Garfield pressed on. "Perhaps the true mastermind behind last years mess, the one who set Rempel up to take the fall, ordered Frum to torch your office as to destroy any evidence of the financial trail that could lead the embezzled money back to him."

Cloutier turned towards the binder and glanced at the pages in the binder in front of him, then he turned back towards Godbout and the sleuths and nodded.

"Milton may have been the prop master at the Opéra du Québec, but he wasn't just a prop master." Cloutier began. "He was also responsible for the financial matters at the venue, including the accounting."

"Responsibilities which you took over after he was arrested." Dee Dee folded her arms.

"Exactly." Cloutier nodded. "Now, prior to the scheme going south, Milton has helped invested a number of assets and proceeds from the funds into a bank account registered under a pseudonym."

Then, looking at Godbout in the eye, Cloutier continued, "I wasn't fully aware what he invested those proceeds into that bank account for, mind you, and there's no reason why I would've regularly used those secret passageways. However, after everything that has happened in the past few days, I may have a few ideas on where the embezzled money and those missing artifacts could've ended up at."

"Where?" The lieutenant pressed.

* * *

Later that evening, after dinner, the group and Garfield gathered together in the male Chan siblings' hotel room.

Once everyone was gathered in the hotel room, Garfield and the Teen Angels placed several files onto the table while everyone else looked on.

"So what did you guys find, Garfield?" Fred asked once the meeting was in order.

"Evidence that would suggest that Rempel was simply the fall guy in last year's case." Garfield replied simply. "Along with a number of developments that will see the police making a move with a couple of warrants first thing tomorrow."

"What sort of developments are we talking about here?" April folded her arms.

"Namely searching the venue for evidence of money-laundering." Dee Dee explained. "Mr. Cloutier had hinted that the arsonist was seeking to burn the financial trail that would suggest that the embezzled money was laundered and invested into a bank account."

"A financial trail that was in his office." Stanley asked.

"That's right, hence the reason why Frum was hired to try to burn down the office in the venue." Taffy nodded. "Luckily for us and the police, the fire department arrived quickly and that Cavey managed to subdue the arsonist before he could do more damage."

"Indeed." Garfield agreed. "Anyways, Mr. Cloutier's name kept appearing on the pages in the binder here and there, though there's nothing to suggest that he was involved in the schemes in any way."

"In fact, while he had personally still find it difficult to believe that Rempel did what he had done, Mr. Cloutier did have his own suspicions on what Rempel did last year that he didn't think too much about until we reopened the case." Dee Dee said. "Especially given that as Rempel's assistant, Mr. Cloutier didn't have what it takes to piece together what was going on back then."

"Which then brings us to the bank account in which the embezzled money was laundered and invested into." Garfield said. "Now, in addition to financial affairs, Mr. Cloutier is also responsible for transactions to and from the venue's bank accounts and payroll."

"One of which includes a certain bank account with the Dominion Capital Bank registered under a name that isn't in the venue's payroll." Taffy said.

"The bank account in which the embezzled money was laundered and invested into." Henry interjected.

"Correct." Garfield nodded. "Upon tracing the financial trail with what Mr. Cloutier provided, we found that, in addition to significant deposits made into the bank account in question, Roberto B. Morton also had a safe deposit box with the Westmount Branch of the bank."

"A branch of the bank that also has provided specialized safe deposit storage for luxury items such as diamonds." Brenda added.

"And we all know that some of the artifacts, including the Ring of Rhinegold, were never recovered." Suzie pointed out.

The group shared glances with each other, then they nodded thoughtfully.

"So the police are gonna execute the warrant to search both the venue and bank to provide the banking records of Roberto B. Morton and access to his safe deposit box first thing tomorrow morning, huh?" Velma asked.

"That's right." Garfield nodded. "Hopefully, those records and the contents of the box can help us finally get to the bottom of this case."

"I certainly hope so too." Daphne agreed.

It was then that they heard Jabber yawning, and they turned towards the shark as he glanced at his watch.

"I don't know about you guys, but I think now will be a good time for us to get some shut eye for tomorrow's competition." Jabber said.

Everyone else glanced at their respective watches and noticed that it was almost eight.

"Jabber's right." Garfield nodded as he looked at his watch. "It's getting late now, I gotta get back to the CMR and call it a night, as tomorrow's gonna be a long day."

Studying the time on his watch, he then added, "If I leave now, I should be able to catch the last train to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu that departs from Central Station in half an hour."

"Then, I suppose you better be off now, Garfield." Velma said. "We'll see you tomorrow, huh?"

"Yes." Garfield nodded.

Clam reached over to pat Garfield in the back. "See you."

"Yep, I'll see you guys." Garfield smiled back.

* * *

By the time Garfield reached the ticket counter at Central Station and bought a one-way ticket to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, he had fifteen minutes to go before the last train departs from Central Station.

Noting the platform number and departure time on the ticket, Garfield glanced at his watch once again as he made his way through the station's main lobby.

He was making his way down the stairs when a couple of familiar-looking twins, who were walking up the stairs in the same time, stopped him in his tracks as they recognized him.

"Well, well, well." The first twin said, and Garfield drew out a breath as he find himself face-to-face with the Ewell twins. "If it isn't that show-off Garfield Wu again."

"Hello, Rona and Kellie." Garfield replied nonchalantly as he folded his arms. "What brings you both to the City of Festivals?"

"The Music Talents show, of course." Kellie snorted. "Rona and I are here to cheer for our family friend Christine, who's darn sure gonna win first place in the competition."

"That's right." Rona nodded in agreement. "You better be prepared to have your socks knocked right off if you're taking part in the competition, because Christine is sure gonna kick it hard with her singing!"

"On the contrary, I'm not taking part in the competition at the Place des Arts, ladies." Garfield replied evenly. "Rather, I'm here for a concert with the air cadets."

"Ah, is that right?" Rona placed her hands on her hips. "Quite a shame. You should be taking part in the competition, I'm sure Christine is gonna be happy to knock your socks right off and teach a showoff like you a lesson, not to mention that her winning could go a long way in helping the family through its troubles."

"Perhaps." Garfield said. "I'm sure you ladies are gonna be happy to learn that the concert I'm taking part in with the air cadets is gonna be my last, given that I'm aging out next month."

"Now isn't that interesting." Kellie remarked.

Garfield only grunted in reply before he asked, "Are your parents gonna be joining in with the cheering for Christine?"

"Mother and Father both would like to, but with work lately, they can't make it to tomorrow's competition." Rona snorted.

"What a surprise." Garfield remarked.

"You really think, huh?" Kellie asked. "We actually have to work now to make ends meet, no thanks to what you did."

"Pretty sure having to work nowadays is a huge improvement over spending most of your days at home with piles of money and not sure where to spend it." Garfield said. "And besides, how was I or the other relatives supposed to know that your family would rack up huge legal bills in your unsuccessful court challenge to have Bruce Stevenson's new will declared void, bills that ended up using up what he left to you guys?"

 **(For information on the Bruce Stevenson case, please read my FictionPress story _D4 Garfield and the Secret of the School Library._ )**

"Huh." Rona snorted. "So how's Carleton so far? Bet it's a whole different league compared to Glebe."

"Nothing I can't handle." Garfield shrugged. "Especially since I've got a summer job coming up with the federal government."

"Coming from someone who sure knows how to show off, I can't say I'm surprised." Kellie snorted.

"And you wonder why I'd thought you girls haven't changed much." Garfield remarked under his breath as he checked his watch.

Noticing the way Garfield was checking his watch, Rona said, "Well, I suppose you should be off now, Garfield. Wouldn't want you to miss your train."

Garfield grunted in reply as he waved his hand. "Take care of yourselves."

Then, without another word, the air cadet resumed his trek down the stairs while the twins huffed and continued on up the stairs with their suitcases in tow.

Garfield arrived at the train in the nick of time, and he wasted no time handing his train ticket to the ticket attendant at the door.

With a nod, the attendant motioned him to board the dark blue and white passenger railcar as the CN Rail locomotive at the front sounded its horn.

Garfield sighed as he settled into his seat, and he glanced at his watch as the Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu-bound CN Rail train began to slowly pull out of the platform.

Moments later, as the four-car passenger train emerged from the Mount Royal Tunnel, Garfield glanced outside and can see the sunset in the distance.

* * *

 _Early Morning, May 15, 1972_

Following the meeting in the male Chan siblings' hotel room, the group decided to turn in for the night.

Much of the hotel was quiet as everyone was fast asleep in their respective hotel rooms, and things were no exception in Shelly and Bubbles' room.

Unbeknownst to Shelly or anyone else in the hotel, a dark creepy shadow emerged from the nearby shadows in the room and looms over her.

The shadowed figure paused as it spotted the throat spray resting on the nightstand beside Shelly's bed, and without another beat, it reached over towards the throat spray on the nightstand.

As the figure reached over to the nightstand, its hands emerged from the shadow, revealing a pair of green hands with one of them holding an identical-looking spray.

Swiftly and quietly, the figure grabbed the throat spray from the nightstand and replaced it with the identical-looking spray.

Without another word, the shadowed figure melted back into the darkness before disappearing into the night.

As that happened, the window curtains were flapping loudly from the wind blowing through the opened window.

"Cl-close...the...window...Bubblehead..." Shelly mumbled in her sleep as she tossed around.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	12. Another sabotage

Chapter 12: Another sabotage

The next morning, after the group have finished their breakfast, they all wasted no time making their way back to the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier for the final preparations and rehearsals before the contest begins in the afternoon.

When they arrived at the venue, once again the remaining contestants headed for their rooms to prepare while April, Skip, Augie, Mudsy, Boo, Cavey and the Teen Angels stayed together at the main lobby.

"I suppose you guys need a hand in getting your stuff moved out of your room?" Dee Dee asked the group.

"It's not much stuff anyways." April shrugged. "But we can sure use the extra help."

"Alright, then." Dee Dee nodded before turning to Cavey and added, "Cavey, you and I will help Skip, Mudsy, Augie and April carry their stuff back to their hotel room."

"And what about Taffy and I?" Brenda asked.

"Stay put here and keep your eyes out." Dee Dee instructed. "With Taffy's broken leg, we can't let her help out in case something happens that complicates her healing, and I need you to accompany her in case something happens."

"Sounds swell." Brenda nodded. "As if anything bad would happen as long as Taffy's around."

As Dee Dee and Cavey left with Skip, April, Augie and Mudsy, the two girls glanced at the door leading to the theatre.

"Well, I suppose that standing around here in the lobby isn't gonna do much." Taffy remarked.

"In that case, mind if we go into the theatre and watch the others rehearse?" Brenda nodded towards the door.

"I don't see why not." Taffy nodded back. "In the meantime, I do wonder if the police has find anything at the bank?"

"I'm sure we'll soon find out on that." Brenda said before tugging Taffy's arm and added, "Come on!"

* * *

Soon, the two girls were seated at the front row at the audience stand just as the Neptunes were making their way onto the stage for their final rehearsal before the afternoon's competition begins.

Biff, Bubbles, Clam and Jabber walked onto their positions on the stage, where their instruments were already set up and ready to go.

Taffy and Brenda shared glances with each other as Biff picked up his guitar, Clam sat on the chair and picked up his bass, Bubbles sat at the piano keyboard and Jabber took his seat at the drum set.

"Shelly, hurry up!" Biff called out, and the girls turned towards backstage, where they can see Shelly holding a throat spray.

"Coming!" Shelly called back before opening her mouth and sprayed the throat spray.

"Shelly sure uses that throat spray a lot." Taffy remarked to Brenda as Shelly walked onto the stage.

"Is everything ready?" Shelly asked as Brenda nodded in agreement offstage.

"Yes, we're ready to go." Biff nodded.

"Alright, then." Shelly nodded back before turning towards the technicians offstage and nodded at them.

After a brief moment, Blaney said, "We're good to go."

The Neptunes all nodded before all attention was drawn towards Bubbles, who began to play the opening notes to Peter, Paul and Mary's _Day is Done._

As Bubbles played the G major introductory notes, Jabber stood by with the drumsticks in hand, ready for his cue to join in while Shelly held the microphone.

Eventually, shortly after Jabber hit the first four beats of the drum part, Shelly stepped forward.

 **(Author's Note: For this particular segment of the chapter, I strongly suggest going onto YouTube and listen to Nana Mouskouri's rendition of the Peter, Paul and Mary song _Day is Done._**

 **The copyright to the lyrics in _italics_ here belong to Peter, Paul and Mary.)**

" _Tell me why you're crying, my son..._ " Shelly sang. " _I know you're frightened, like everyone._ "

As the rest of the Neptunes began to join in with their instruments, Shelly continued, " _Is it the thunder in the distance you fear?_ "

Then, Shelly began to increase the pitch in her voice as she sang, " _Will it help if I stay very near?...I am near._ "

It was then that Biff and Clam joined in as they began singing as a trio, " _And if you take my hand my son, all will be well when the day is done._ "

Backstage, everyone else shared glances with each other as the Neptunes continued, " _And if you take my hand my son, all will be well when the day is done._ "

It was then that the Neptunes began to diverge in their singing as Biff and Clam sang, " _Day is done..._ "

"... _when the day is done..._ " Shelly sang.

" _...day is done..._ " Biff and Clam sang.

"... _when the day is done..._ " Shelly sang.

" _...day is done..._ " Biff and Clam sang.

"... _when the day is done..._ " Shelly sang.

" _...day is done._ " The trio then sang together once again.

As the Neptunes continued with their rehearsal, everyone else was moved by how well their rendition of the song was.

"Well, I'll be darned." Daphne remarked backstage. "Shelly may have quite the singing chops after all."

"You can say that again, Daphne." Suzie agreed.

Daphne nodded before she turned back towards the stage as Shelly sang, " _Tell me why you're smiling my son, is there a secret..._ "

Halfway through the sentence, Shelly began to cough, and Biff and Clam glanced at her in concern, though she quickly cleared her throat before continuing.

"... _you can tell..._ " Shelly continued, only for her to resume coughing again.

Hoarsely, she tried to continue, "... _everyone?_ "

Just as she finished, Shelly began to cough uncontrollably, and her friends began to pause with concerned looks growing on their faces.

"Shelly, are you okay?" Jabber asked.

"I'm..." Shelly tried to reply, only for her voice to crack up, and then no words come out from her mouth.

There was stunned silence from backstage and the audience stands as the Neptunes gathered with Shelly on stage as she continued to cough.

"Water..." Shelly said weakly.

Before anyone knew it, there was suddenly a loud crash on stage, and when the Neptunes and the contestants standing at backstage turned towards the source, they all can see that several more stage props just crashed onto the instruments.

And then, the theatre turned dark as the screens once again turned red, accompanied by some familiar-sounding laughter and a voice shouting, "Christine must win!"

Sharing glances with each other, Brenda remarked to Taffy. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"I wish." Taffy sighed as the lights returned.

* * *

No sooner did Shelly get medical attention from the medical staff on standby for the competition did the Neptunes declared their intention to withdraw from the competition, especially with their instruments now damaged by the crash on stage.

"Someone sure is going through great lengths to make sure Christine wins this." Fred remarked as they gathered at the main lobby.

"Especially by tampering with Shelly's throat spray." Anne added.

"Not to mention tampering with the support systems of the stage props above." Velma added.

"We really need to get to the bottom of this and find the culprit before someone else gets seriously hurt." Henry said.

It was then that the main doors sprung open, and everyone turned and arched their eyebrows when they saw Garfield, the youth orchestra and the officers, all in their No. 2 Mess Dress uniforms and with their instruments.

Seeing the youth orchestra, Mr. Barbot walked over to Bédard as he said, "Ah, parfait!"

While Barbot and Flight Lieutenant Bédard conferred with each other about the arrangement, Fred walked towards Garfield and asked, "What's going on, Garfield?"

"So apparently, we've been asked to perform at the competition as fillers given that there are now four contestants left for the competition." Garfield responded. "Not to mention that Radio-Canada, who is live-broadcasting the competition with its English-language sister channel CBC, has already cleared their programming schedule for the occasion. With four contestants left, there's not gonna be much from the competition for the networks to broadcast."

"Three now, actually." Brenda corrected. "The Phantom has struck again, and this time, Shelly and the Neptunes were the casualties."

Garfield paused as he turned towards Shelly, who was still coughing as she was being tended to by a medic, then he nodded.

"You don't say." Garfield narrowed his eyes before he turned back towards the orchestra and added, "Looks like there's room for one more piece for us to perform during the competition as a filler."

"Kinda wished that this filler arrangement with you guys wasn't necessary, especially given your concert performance tomorrow, Garfield." Daphne said.

"I know." Garfield nodded. "In any way, this calls for a plan to trap the Phantom."

"I'm still wondering through why would someone want Christine to win so badly?" April asked as she and the Teen Angels joined them. "Her family is well off financially, of course, that is if they're already the type that wants to win at all costs or is experiencing some money troubles."

At the mention of "money troubles" by April, Garfield's eyes lit up as something clicked inside his mind.

 _"Not to mention that her winning could go a long way in helping the family through its troubles."_ He recalled Rona telling him the night before during their brief encounter at Central Station.

"Garfield?" Shaggy asked, and Garfield realized that he has zoomed out briefly.

"Sorry about that, I just thought of something, guys." Garfield quickly said.

"What is it?" Stanley asked.

"Something that can help us get to the bottom of the sabotages in order for Christine to win." Garfield replied as he made his way towards Bédard. "I'm going to drop by the police station to make a few inquiries, and if my hunch is right, then I believe we just got to the bottom of the case."

"Oh, and while you're at it, check and see the results of the warranted searches Lieutenant Godbout mentioned that they were gonna do first thing this morning, Garfield." Biff said.

"Exactly what I was gonna do." Garfield nodded before he joined Bédard.

The group shared glances with each other as Bédard finished conferring with Barbot, then they turned towards each other.

"I've got an idea for a trap." Dee Dee says. "We just need a bait."

Then, looking towards a certain someone, she added, "And I suppose I know who's gonna be it."

As the youth orchestra made their way into the theatre, everyone else looked towards whoever Dee Dee was looking towards.

With everyone's eyes on her, Anne looked around and frowned. "What?"

* * *

A short while later, everyone was gathered in the Chan Clan's room.

"This is very ridiculous, not to mention a terrible idea." Anne pouted as they placed her guitar in display.

"Anne, you know that the only way for us to catch the Phantom red-handed is to lure him here to the room with the opportunity to tamper with your guitar." Velma said.

"Well, why can't it be Stan's guitar that serves as the bait?" Anne retorted.

"Because I've already have my guitar fine-tuned and fully calibrated for the performance this afternoon." Stanley said. "I've already made it clear that I can't take any chances with the Phantom touching it and messing with the scales."

"Besides, you'll be fine." Suzie added. "It's not like you're gonna have to run from the Phantom or something, sis."

"Yeah." Fred agreed. "We just need to hide in the room and then when the Phantom steps in and tries to tamper with your guitar, then we jump in and take care of the rest."

"Whatever you say." Anne folded her arms. "If there's a single dent on my guitar by the end of this, you're gonna pay for the repairs."

"I promise that it won't come to that, Anne." Dee Dee assured her. "The Phantom wouldn't lay a finger on your guitar throughout the entire sting."

Anne nodded. "This plan better work."

Everyone else nodded in agreement as Fred rubbed his hands.

"Alright, guys." The blonde declared. "We all have our instructions, now let's get to work."

"Right." Everyone else agreed.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	13. The Second Phantom

Chapter 13: The Second Phantom

Meanwhile, over at the Ville Marie police station, Garfield had finished his phone call and hung up, prompting Captain Clouseau to look up.

" _You got what you needed_ , Monsieur Wu?" Clouseau asked.

" _More than enough_ , Captaine." Garfield replied. " _We've got the motive and evidence behind the sabotage of the other contestants at the Music Talent competition._ "

As Garfield was speaking, Lieutenant Godbout entered the office, prompting Clouseau to look towards the door.

" _Alright, because I believe that Lieutenant Godbout has news from the searches they've drawn up at the Westmount branch of the Dominion Capital Bank._ " Clouseau said as he nodded towards Godbout.

"Ah, oui." Garfield said as he turned around before adding, " _How did it went, Lieutenant?_ "

" _I've got some good news and bad news._ " Godbout frowned. " _Which ones would you like to hear from first?_ "

Garfield and Clouseau shared glances with each other before the captain replied, " _The bad news first, obviously._ "

" _Right._ " Godbout nodded. " _So we were granted access to the safe deposit box, but if the missing artifacts from last year's heist are still missing, they're not at the safe deposit box._ "

Garfield drew out a breath. " _Was there anything in the_ _safe deposit box,_ Lieutenant?"

"Oui." The lieutenant nodded again. " _Documents that would prove that Monsieur Rempel was innocent and was simply set up as the fall guy from last year's case."_

Garfield and Clouseau once again shared glances with each other.

" _Documents that would suggest that Rempel was framed in all of that mess._ " Clouseau interjected.

"Exactement." Godbout replied. " _I've already contacted Assistant Crown Attorney Leblanc on the developments, and he's going for the motion to have the charges against Monsieur Rempel dismissed._ "

Garfield nodded thoughtfully. " _And the good news?_ "

" _We've enlisted help from a forensic accounting specialist from Revenue Canada to track down the embezzled funds, who is going through the accounting figures we've obtained from the safe deposit box._ " Godbout replied. " _Within the next couple hours, we should hear back from her on the progress._ "

" _Sounds good._ " The captain nodded, during which Garfield glanced at his watch.

Noting the look on Garfield's face, Clouseau added, " _Is there something wrong,_ Monsieur Wu?"

"Non." Garfield shook his head before he frowned and added, " _I was just thinking about the Rempel case, and I just can't help but feel that there's something not right about all of this. I can't put my finger in it, though._ "

Both Clouseau and Godbout nodded thoughtfully as the scene shifted towards the clock on the nearby wall, which at present displayed 10:45.

* * *

Fast forward to 13:05 at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, everyone has finished their lunch break and as they returned to the venue for the final preparations, visitors have begun to flock to the venue for the competition.

While they were no longer taking part in the competition, the Neptunes, the Teen Angels, April, Mudsy, Augie and Skip have all decided to take part in the voting with the audience.

As the audience began to take their seats in the theatre, Garfield, Fred, April, Biff, Henry and Dee Dee gathered together for one final go-through on their plan to trap the Phantom responsible for sabotaging the other contestants during the rehearsals, not long after Garfield updated them on the progress of the Rempel case.

"Alright, so everyone knows what to do, eh?" Garfield asked as he briefly adjusted his bowtie.

"Yeah." Biff nodded as he, April, Fred, Henry and Dee Dee each held up the walkie-talkies that was distributed amongst them.

"The girls, Cavey and I will be at the audience stands keeping eye on the staff and technicians." Dee Dee began.

"While the Neptunes and I would be spread out at the main lobby, ready to step in should our perp try to make his or her getaway through the main entrance." Biff added.

"Meanwhile, the guys, Mudsy and I will hiding with Anne in the Chan Clan's room." April said.

"While the clan and I will be at the back hallway, ready to step in and stop the perp from getting to backstage and mess with you guys." Henry added as he looked at Fred and Garfield.

"And the gang and I will be at backstage keeping an eye on our suspects." Fred nodded.

"Perfect." Garfield rubbed his hands.

"You know, Garfield." Dee Dee remarked. "It's quite surprising that Milton Rempel would be walking out of jail a free man today, after what the police found this morning during the search at the bank."

"I know, right?" Garfield agreed as he frowned. "I've went through the files that were recovered from the safe deposit box, and there's something that doesn't add up in all of this, though I still can't put my finger in it."

"Could've been possible that we may have goofed last year?" Fred asked.

"I don't know, to be honest with you." Garfield shrugged. "What we do know is that the real mastermind played us for the fools we were."

"Can't argue with that." April agreed before she noted the time on the nearby clock and added, "Either way, it's almost show time, guys. I suppose this is something we'll have to think about during the competition."

"Right." Garfield nodded, then as he heard the audience beginning to clap, he added, "It's my cue. The orchestra and I are up first as the introductory filler for the competition."

"Alright, have fun up there, Garfield." Fred nodded as he patted Garfield in the back.

* * *

The audience cheered as Barbot walked onto the stage and introduced himself and welcomed them to the contest, during which Garfield and the orchestra were busy setting up behind the front curtains on stage.

Speaking in both English and French, Barbot announced the winning prize of $10 000 before proceeding to introduce the three remaining contestants.

On cue, the large screen on the right of the stage began to display a grumpy-looking Christine Damon, who quickly smiled when she realized that she's on camera.

"Starting off with the competition is the young and talented Christine Damon from Greely, Canadian Capital Territory." Barbot introduced.

The cheers from the audience stand was largely muted out by the miscellaneous murmurs among the audience, and from where Garfield was standing at as he briefly peeked out from the curtains, it was likely that the Ewell twins were the only ones actually cheering on the sisters.

As Barbot dived into Christine's background briefly and repeated his earlier introductions in French, Fred reported that Christine's sister was nowhere to be seen backstage.

Likewise, Biff reported that they didn't spot the older sister entering the theatre through the main entrance, and Garfield nodded.

"Alright, Alpha and Charlie, be ready at any minutes notice." Garfield radioed in. "The Phantom's likely going to take advantage of the attention from on stage and strike, so be prepared."

"Affirmative." April's voice replied.

"Next up, the talented group of teenage musicians and their canine buddy from Coolsville, California." Barbot moved on as he introduced Mystery Inc. "Fred Jones, Velma Dinkley, Daphne Blake, Shaggy Rogers and their dog Scooby Doo."

As he introduced the gang, the screen in the centre began to display each of the gang one-by-one as Barbot introduced them each.

The cheers were considerably more pronounced from the audience stands, and Augie glanced from his position at the hallway and gave the party inside the room a thumbs up.

Stanley returned the thumbs up in confirmation, and they quickly moved into position.

"And finally, last but not least, a family band also from Coolsville, California." Barbot continued on. "The Chan Clan, consisting of Henry Chan, Stanley Chan, Suzie Chan, Alan Chan, Anne Chan, Tom Chan and Flip Chan."

As the Chan Clan was introduced, each one of them began to show up on the screen on the left of the stage one-by-one.

The cheers from the audience continued as Barbot repeated the introductions in French, and the gang shared glances with each other backstage.

While Barbot proceeds to explain the points system that awards points to the contestants in English and French, Garfield glanced at the orchestra as the cadets all took their seats and are waiting on the curtain to rise before he makes his way onto the podium.

Glancing towards the left, Garfield saw Bédard standing at backstage, who gave him a thumbs up.

With a firm nod, Garfield returned the gesture to the flight lieutenant just as Barbot finished with the explanations in French.

"And now, to top off the opening of the Music Talent contest, we'll be having a guest performer performing filler pieces in the duration of the contest in between the contest acts." Barbot continued, and everyone in the audience stand turned their attention towards the front curtains with the searchlight shining onto the middle of the stage.

Then, as the front curtain begins to rise, revealing the youth orchestra in their seats and holding their instruments, Barbot announced, "The Royal Canadian Air Cadet Youth Orchestra."

As the audience began to cheer and applaud, Garfield began to walk on stage towards the podium as Barbot continued, "Under the baton of Mr. Garfield Wu!"

The cheers grew louder while Garfield stepped onto the podium, turned towards the audience and bowed, during which the Ewell twins almost spilled their drinks in surprise.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Kellie muttered.

Standing backstage, the gang clapped their hands softly as Garfield turned around and faced the orchestra.

After repeating the earlier introductions in French, Barbot continued, "And now, the Royal Canadian Air Cadet Youth Orchestra is gonna start off the program with a performance of Mendelssohn's _The Hebrides_ overture."

The applause and cheers from the audience died down while Garfield raised both of his arms with the baton in hand, and the orchestra responded by placing their respective instruments in position.

* * *

 **(Author's Note: For this short segment of the story, please go onto YouTube and listen to _The Hebride's_ overture while reading the segment.)**

The next ten minutes went by as Garfield and the orchestra guided the audience through the stormy north Atlantic waters off the coast of northern Scotland.

The waves rolled gently as the main theme was repeated mainly by the strings, and then the timpanist provided the drum rolls as the waves began to rock the boat more.

With the clarinets, flutes, bassoons, oboes and the strings, followed by the cellos and double basses, playing gently, the boat glided through the foggy waters.

Everyone listened intently as the boat continued to chart through the mostly-stormy waters, and with clouds forming in the sky, it appeared that it was only a matter a time before the rain began to pour.

Then, as the orchestra roared to life, all in a sudden, the fog began to clear and as the brass instruments played their theme, Fingal's Cave finally came into view.

With the orchestra going silent once again as the individual sections of the orchestra, namely the flutes, brass and strings, played their own renditions of the theme.

Much of the silence was filled by the waves gently crashing onto the rocky shores near the cave, and everyone looked on intently as Garfield waved his hands and conducted the orchestra through the overture.

The boat continued to glide through the now-choppy waters off the coast, and as with the practice, Garfield gently swung his hands while the string players plucked their instruments before the stormy section returns, upon which his hand motions become more pronounced.

In particular, the drum roll on the kettledrums in the back of the orchestra and the stormy performance of the brass section left quite the impression on the audience.

With the return of the stormy notes, the waves began to rock the boat more and the rain started to pour down.

After the final roar, followed by the gentle calm down and the cello and double bass players plucked the final B notes, Garfield gently held his hands in position.

There was a brief moment of silence before the audience broke into a thunderous round of applause, and then Garfield finally placed his hands down and nodded.

As the cadets placed their instruments down and stood up, Garfield turned around and bowed, and the cheers and applause only grew louder by the minute.

Backstage, the gang were likewise applauding the performance.

"Even though this isn't the first time we've watched Garfield perform this piece, he still managed to make the performance surreal and breathtaking." Velma remarked.

"You can say that again, Velms." Fred agreed.

Echoing the sentiment, Barbot walked onto the stage as he said, "Now, wasn't that a breathtaking opening?"

His question was responded by louder cheers from the audience, and he nodded as he clapped his hands.

* * *

After the applause had died down, the curtain closed briefly as Barbot introduced Christine, the first performer, in greater detail to the audience.

While Barbot spoke to the audience, the stage crew were busy clearing the chairs and sheetmusic holders off the stage.

With the stage cleared and the equipment ready to go, one of the stage hands off stage gave Barbot a thumbs up just as he finished the introductions in French.

"And now, without further adieu, our first performer, Christine Damon!" Barbot announced.

At the announcement, Christine made her way onto the stage wearing a pair of white gloves and a long, purple-red dress as the crowd gave her a round of applause, while Barbot made his way off the stage.

Once the crowd finished with the round of applause, the cameras focused on Christine as the background instrumental music for her song of choice began to play.

Her song of choice was named _Homewrecker_ , and it seemed to cover her dislike of homewreckers.

As Christine began to sing, Garfield stood at a corner just as his walkie-talkie came to life.

"Namesake, namesake, come in." Fred's voice said.

"Yes, Ascot?" Garfield replied.

"The Shark Catchers has reported suspicious movement from the rear washrooms." Fred reported.

"Alright, tell Charlie and Alpha to be in position." Garfield instructed. "I'll be right over."

* * *

Meanwhile, over at the Chan Clan's room, Suzie was busy working on Anne's hair in front of the mirror.

"妳是不是在開我的玩笑嗎，大姊?" (Are you kidding me, sis?) Anne grumbled as she looked at herself in the mirror while Suzie brushed her hair. "我上臺打扮成這樣是必須的嗎?" (Is it really necessary for me to dress up like this?)

"Cool your jets, Anne." Suzie rolled her eyes. "I'm just trying to get you to look your best on stage."

"Yeah, well, 我幾乎認不出我自己了。(I can barely recognize myself.)" Anne retorted. "Either way, stop playing around with my hair."

"我快要好了。" (I'm almost finished.) Suzie gritted her teeth.

As Suzie continued adjusting Anne's hair, a shadow in the shape of someone wearing a top hat and a cape creeped into the room undetected.

The shadow looked around before it eventually made its way towards Anne's guitar, looming over it before a green hand reached over for the guitar.

Just as the green hand was about to grab the guitar, another hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed it by the wrist.

"Don't even think about it." The voice accompanying the other hand said, and the figure, revealing to be the second Phantom, turned towards its source.

Standing right beside the Phantom stood Henry, Stanley, Alan, Tom and Flip, with Stanley being the one holding onto the Phantom's wrist as the others had their arms folded.

"Huh?" Suzie and Anne paused from their hair-dressing and turned around, in time to see Stanley yank the Phantom's hand away from Anne's guitar.

Realizing that he has been caught red-handed, the Phantom pushed Stanley away.

"Curses!" He exclaimed as he quickly darted out of the room.

"抓住它!" (Get him!) Henry shouted as he pointed towards the retreating Phantom, and the Chan Clan quickly took off after him.

"眼鏡人，進來。" (Glasses Man, come in.) Stanley called into the radio as they chased after the Phantom. "We've engaged the subject. He's presently heading down the hallway towards the lobby."

"Got it." Garfield replied on the other end. "Meet you guys there."

Just as the Phantom reached an intersection between two perpendicular hallways and prepares to make the right turn onto the hallway leading to backstage, April, Augie and Skip stood in his way as April asked, "Going someplace?"

Swiftly, the Phantom turned around and was about turn left when Mudsy appeared with his hands on his hips.

"Holy smoke, a ghost!" The Phantom exclaimed in fright.

"The Spirit of '76, don't you know." Mudsy said as he folded his arms.

"I'm getting out of here!" The Phantom shrieked as he continued on down the main hallway he was running down earlier.

April, Skip, Augie and Mudsy wasted no time joining the Chan Clan in the chase, during which the Phantom added, "This place is too crazy with real ghosts!"

Just as the Phantom was about to make it to the lobby, a club appeared out of nowhere and he almost immediately tripped over.

As the Phantom looked up, Captain Caveman stood in front of him and pointed his club right at his face.

"Bad Phantom." Cavey said as the Teen Angels joined him with their arms folded.

The Phantom looked back, in time to see the Chan Clan, Mudsy, April, Skip and Augie emerging from the hallway.

"If it isn't ghosts, then there's a caveman." The Phantom said as he quickly picked himself up and took off.

As the Phantom raced through the lobby, he looked back and added, "This can't be real!"

Before the Phantom could get any further, he immediately crashed into something huge.

Turning his head towards the front, the colour on the Phantom's face drained away as he find himself face-to-face with Jabber.

"Hi there, I'm Jabber." Jabber said as he stretched his fin out. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Phantom."

Having had seen enough of these strange things, the Phantom only fainted onto the floor while the rest of the Neptunes joined in.

"Good work, Jabber!" Dee Dee said. "We've got the second Phantom!"

"Seems like the Phantom got carried away in sabotaging our acts to know what a real phantom looks like." Clam remarked as he looked at Mudsy.

"I'll say." Garfield agreed as he and Fred joined the group. "Now to see who our second Phantom really is."

Everyone else nodded in agreement before Dee Dee proceeded to pull the mask off, revealing the face of someone they all recognized in spite of the lack of interactions in the previous days.

"Lisa Damon." Skip said. "Christine's sister."

"Just as we suspected." Suzie folded her arms as Mr. Blaney, a couple of police officers and a police sergeant arrived at the scene, where the officers moved quick to handcuff the now-unmasked Lisa.

"Lisa Damon adopted the disguise of the Phantom in order to sabotage the other contestants' acts and ensure her sister wins in the competition." Fred nodded.

"Though it doesn't make any sense." Taffy frowned. "Aren't the Damons well off? Why would they need the prize money if they already have a lot to burn?"

"They used to have a huge fortune." Garfield replied, and the group looked at him with puzzled looks on their faces.

"What do you mean by that, Garfield?" April asked.

"Earlier this morning, I got in touch with a friend working at Revenue Canada." Garfield explained briefly. "There were rumours around that the Damons on the verge of losing their fortune due to one of Franklin Damon's employees whistleblowing on the business' unethical and questionable business practices."

"And your friend confirmed that Revenue Canada is investigating Frank Damon's company and bank accounts." Fred interjected.

"That's right." Garfield nodded. "In fact, I got confirmation that his assets in Canada has been seized and frozen."

"Which means that we now have motive for the Phantom sabotaging the other contestants in order for Christine to win first prize." Henry said.

"Exactly." Garfield nodded again.

"Well, then." The police sergeant said. "Looks like financial troubles isn't going to be the only issue on Mr. Damon's plate."

The two officers nodded as they lead Lisa away, during which Mr. Blaney turned towards Fred.

"Mr. Jones, you and your friends are up." Blaney said.

"Right." Fred nodded, and then everyone else turned towards the blonde.

"Good luck with your act, Freddie." Biff said.

"Thanks, guys." Fred nodded as he took his leave.

Watching Fred making his way down the hallway, Henry turned towards his younger siblings and said, "I suppose we should also get back to our room and get ready, guys."

"Right." Tom nodded.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	14. More revelations

**Author's Note: For the segment where the gang performs, please go on YouTube and listen to Johnny Cash's _Ring of Fire_ while reading along the segment.**

 **The lyrics (In _italics_ ) belongs to Johnny Cash and the Carter Family, not me.**

* * *

Chapter 14: Relevations

While the Chan Clan followed Fred down the hallway, Mr. Blaney turned towards the sergeant.

As the two men launched into rapid French, Garfield turned towards them and raised an eyebrow.

"What's going on?" Biff asked as he caught the look on Garfield's face.

"Mr. Blaney sure sounds eager to have the extra police officers patrol the venue here, even though the Phantom responsible for the sabotages has been caught and unmasked just now." Garfield replied.

"We've noticed that." Clam said. "Though didn't you mention that the division's a little short-staffed due to court appearances, vacations and sick leaves?"

"It is." Garfield nodded.

Eying the police officers patrolling the venue, Clam asked, "Then, how did the sergeant managed to arrange to get all these officers here?"

"He had to pull a few officers from the security detail keeping watch on the _Sevon_ diamond." Garfield explained.

"The _Sevon_ diamond?" Dee Dee asked.

Before Garfield could reply, Mr. Blaney proceeded to spray his hand with the spray.

Immediately, Skip and Augie sniffed the area Mr. Blaney was standing at.

"Lemons." Skip said.

"Yeah, it's the flavour of my hand sanitizer." Blaney replied. "I always use it to keep my hands germ-free."

He then glanced at his watch before adding, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some clean up to attend to."

The group frowned as Blaney took his leave, then Brenda stepped forward.

"Didn't the threatening note deposited to the Chan Clan's hotel room couple days ago have the scent of lemons?" Brenda asked.

"Lemon smell?" The sergeant asked, and Garfield immediately turned towards him.

"Sergeant, _by any chance, are there any officers still keeping watch of the Savon diamond at the Mineral Society with everyone pulled in to patrol the venue for the duration of the contest?_ " Garfield asked.

The sergeant consulted the clipboard he was holding, flipped through a couple pages before looking up and replied, "Cinq _officers are at the Mineral Society keeping watch. Why?_ "

Before Garfield could continue, the sergeant's radio burst into life.

As the sergeant exited the lobby to take the radio call, Garfield turned towards the others.

"The one and only lemon smell from the hotel room." He nodded.

"Right, and he said that he had 'some clean up to attend to.' That sounds familiar to me." April added.

"And remember his hand motion as he sprayed his hand with the sanitizer." Garfield added as he pulled out a copy of the screenshot from the surveillance footage given to him. "It's similar to the one used by the figure from the surveillance footage at the diamond display at City Hall on the night it was stolen."

GARFIELD'S FLASH VISION AND EXPLANATIONS

 _Night of May 11, 1972_

In the shadows, Garfield, the Teen Angels, Skip, Augie, April, Cavey and the Neptunes watches Mr. Blaney, dressed up as the Phantom, breaking into the display through an open window that has a photoelectric beam that forms part of a circuit.

Using a beam of light, Blaney flashed it at the receiving side of the circuit, preventing the circuit from breaking and sounding the alarm as he crosses the open window.

He then carefully makes his way through the shadowed area of the hallway before arriving at the diamond display case, successfully dodging the security camera in the process.

As they watched Blaney spraying the hand spray after taking the diamond, Garfield paused his flash vision before turning towards the others.

"You guys see the motion he makes while spraying his hand with the sanitizer?" Garfield asked.

"Yes, we do." Dee Dee nodded. "He must have done it so he could keep his hands clean, as well as preventing germs from spreading onto the diamond."

"Exactly what we thought, too." April agreed.

The trio then watched Blaney bagging the diamond, looked around to make sure that there was no additional security features in the area, and then made his getaway.

END OF FLASH VISION

It was then that the sergeant returned to the lobby with an urgent look on his face, and the group immediately turned towards him.

" _Sergeant, what's going on?"_ Garfield asked.

" _The patrol team assigned to the security of the Sevon got called over to respond to a robbery in progress down the block._ " The sergeant explained.

" _A robbery?_ " Garfield asked. " _Anyone staying put at the Mineral Society to keep watch of the diamond?_ "

" _From what I understand, it's a serious armed robbery taking place as we speak._ " The sergeant said. " _In fact, I'm heading over to the scene to meet up with the team, given word has it that there has been a couple of hostages._ "

With that, the sergeant took his leave, but not before flagging down the patrol officer in charge and issued a couple of orders.

As the sergeant left the scene, the Teen Angels, the Neptunes, April, Skip and Augie turned towards Garfield.

"What's going on, Garfield?" Clam asked.

"Well, it just so happened that the patrol team watching the _Sevon_ had to respond to an armed robbery." Garfield said urgently.

"And it also just so happened that Mr. Blaney had specifically asked for the extra officers to stay here in the venue even though we've caught the culprit behind the sabotages." April pointed out.

"Wait, so if those officers are mainly here and the others are responding to a robbery, who's watching the diamond?" Bubbles asked.

"Doesn't sound like anyone's keeping watch of the diamond." Dee Dee replied.

"Yes." Garfield nodded before he waved his hand and added, "Come on!"

Everyone else nodded before they quickly followed Garfield's lead.

* * *

Meanwhile, Christine Damon has finished her performance and has made her way backstage.

With the gang standing by, she turned towards them and proudly boasted, "Watch out, you guys are going down, and so is that family of losers."

"I'm sure we all are." Daphne replied nonchalantly, and it was then that their attention was drawn towards the Ewell twins standing at the doorway to backstage.

As the gang prepared for their act, Christine smiled at the twins as she made her way towards the doorway.

"Rona, Kellie." She greeted. "How did you guys liked my performance?"

"It was swell, but I'm afraid we've got a problem." Kellie replied.

"What is it?" Christine asked as the smile disappeared from her face.

"It's Lisa, she's in a huge mess right now." Rona said.

"What do you mean?" Christine raised an eyebrow.

"We were at the front lobby, on our way back from the washroom, when we saw that show off Garfield Wu and his friends catch your sister in the act." Kellie explained. "Last we saw, there were police officers arriving at the scene, and it looks like Lisa's not gonna be so lucky."

"Curses!" Christine muttered angrily as she threw her microphone towards the floor. "Isn't that Garfield Wu the one that was conducing that youth orchestra for the opening filler and the one you guys mentioned as being responsible for getting you guys into the tight spot you guys find yourselves in?"

"The one and only." Rona huffed. "Even after all these years, that show off hasn't changed at all and is stuck in his usual knack of causing trouble for anyone."

"I can see why." Christine said as she nodded towards Mystery Inc. "Being in cahoots with a bunch of meddling kids from south of the border can do that."

"Tell me about it." Kellie agreed as the scene shifted back onto the stage.

"Well, folks." Barbot said. "Wasn't that a magnificent performance?"

His question was answered by a series of murmurs from the audience, and he nodded.

"I've thought so, too." Barbot said before directing everyone's attention towards the screens. "Anyways, moving on, next up are Fred Jones, Velma Dinkley, Daphne Blake, Shaggy Rogers and their dog Scooby Doo from Coolsville, California."

The audience cheered as the curtains rises up, revealing the gang standing or sitting at their positions, with Shaggy and Scooby at the centre with their guitars while Fred and the girls were on the side with trumpets.

Once the cheering and applause died down and Barbot made his way off the stage, Shaggy turned towards Fred, who nodded at him.

Nodding back, Shaggy turned around before Fred and the girls began playing the introductory notes with their trumpets.

As soon as Fred and the girls hit the fourth notes with their trumpets, Shaggy and Scooby began playing the instrumental notes with their guitars while tapping their feet with the beat of the song.

After the introductory notes, Fred and the girls briefly put down their trumpets before Shaggy leaned forward to the microphone.

" _Love...is a burning thing..._ " Shaggy sang, which was then followed shortly by Fred and the girls playing the main theme with their trumpets.

" _And it makes...a fiery ring..._ " He continued, during which some of the audience members began to tap their feet with the beat of the song.

 _"Bound...by wild desire..."_ Shaggy sang, and following the trumpet repeat of the main theme, he continued, _"I fell into a ring of fire."_

And then, as Daphne and Velma began humming along, Shaggy continued, _"I fell in-to a burning ring of fire, I fell down, down, down, and the flames went higher..."_

" _And it burns, burns, burns..._ " As Shaggy sang that part of the lyrics, Daphne and Velma briefly repeated the lyrics with him before returning to humming as he sang, " _The ring of fire...the ring of fire._ "

Daphne and Velma then picked up their trumpets as they joined Fred in repeating the main theme of the song, during which the Chan Clan observed the action from backstage.

"薛吉和叔比真的知道 (Shaggy and Scooby sure knows) how to set up a musical act." Suzie remarked.

"You can tell me that again, Suzie." Henry agreed. "After all, 學校的音樂活動大多是由薛吉安排出來的。 (Most of the music events at school were organized by Shag.)"

* * *

Meanwhile, at another part of the venue, Garfield, April, Skip, Augie, the Teen Angels and the Neptunes were searching around for Mr. Blaney.

They soon found his office and Skip knocked on the door, only for no response.

"Mr. Blaney?" April called out.

When she received no response, she said, "Looks like he's not in his office."

"Maybe there's something in there that can tell us where he went." Dee Dee stepped forward and turned the doorknob.

The door was unlocked, and so the group were able to get into the room, though they were greeted by the smell of lemons as they entered the office.

"Zowie, how often does Mr. Blaney spray his hands with sanitizer?" Taffy remarked. "His office smells like lemons."

"One too many, I suppose." Garfield replied as he, Dee Dee, Biff and April stepped into the office.

The four wasted no time searching around, though it was Clam who noticed something on the bookshelf.

"Uh, guys, there's something on the bookshelf you may wanna check out." He said as he pointed towards the object in question.

Garfield, Biff, April and Dee Dee followed Clam's gaze and grabbed the object, revealing a magazine on diamonds.

Swiftly, Garfield opened the magazine and flipped through the pages, stopping when he found what they were looking for.

"Well, well, well." He remarked.

"What is it, Garfield?" Dee Dee asked.

"Check this out." Garfield replied as he flipped the magazine around for them to see.

The group leaned forward and saw a French-language article with a photo of the _Sevon_ and a date being circled in red by a pen.

"That's the _Sevon_ Diamond on display at the Mineral Society." Shelly recognized.

"And the display dates are circled as well." Garfield said. "Today's the last day of the diamond being on display."

"And with the police dispatched to patrol the venue and responding to that armed robbery in progress, there's not going to be anyone guarding the _Sevon_." Dee Dee added.

"Which means Mr. Blaney must be at the now-unguarded Mineral Society for his heist." Garfield nodded.

There was a pause among the group before April declared, "We need to stop him before he gets away with the diamond."

"Agreed." Garfield said. "Did any of you drove here?"

The Neptunes shared glances with each other, before they all nodded.

"We've brought our Neptunemobile here by train." Biff said. "However, we got it parked at the hotel parking garage."

"Same with us with our Looney Duney." April added.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do, guys." Garfield said as the crouched together. "Neptunes, April, Mudsy, Skip and Augie, you guys get your vehicles while the Teen Angels and I alert the officers here. Then, you guys pick us up here and we go try to head Mr. Blaney off at the pass."

"And we'll keep in touch with our walkie-talkies, huh?" Clam asked.

"Yes." Garfield nodded. "Now let's go! There's not much time left."

* * *

Back on stage, the gang were almost finished with their performance as Fred and the girls played the trumpets together.

Daphne and Velma began humming along as Shaggy continued, _"I fell in-to a burning ring of fire, I fell down, down, down, and the flames went higher..."_

" _And it burns, burns, burns..._ " As Shaggy sang that part of the lyrics, Daphne and Velma briefly repeated the lyrics with him before returning to humming as he sang, " _The ring of fire...the ring of fire._ "

He then repeated the last lines as he continued, " _And it burns, burns, burns...the ring of fire, the ring of fire, the ring of fire, the ring of fire..._ "

As Shaggy repeated the last lines, the notes and the searchlights gradually began to fade out before the trumpets played the ending notes.

There was a brief moment of silence before the audience began cheering and applauding loudly.

The searchlights light up the stage again before the gang all bowed, which was then followed by some whistling from the audience.

After some more bows, the gang then made their way off the stage, whereupon they were greeted by the Chan Clan clapping their hands.

"I gotta say that was magnificent, guys." Henry said.

"Indeed it was." Anne agreed.

"I'm sure we're gonna have to work extra hard to push past you guys in the competition." Stanley added as they made their way onto the stage.

"Well, in that case, I wish you guys luck." Fred said as he patted Henry on the back.

"Thanks." Suzie nodded as she and Daphne shared a hug.

* * *

A short while later, as the gang decided to take a break for the washroom, they saw Garfield and the Teen Angels speaking to a couple of police officers.

Sharing glances with each other, the gang walked towards the five just as the two police officers nodded and rushed off.

"What's going on?" Daphne asked as Garfield and the Teen Angels turned towards them.

"It's Mr. Blaney." Dee Dee said. "He's the third Phantom!"

"The one responsible for the diamond thefts?" Velma asked.

"The one and only." Garfield nodded. "We just found a magazine in Mr. Blaney's office that gave us a clear picture of his interest in the _Sevon_ Diamond."

"And he's also nowhere to be seen right now." Brenda added. "The Neptunes, Mudsy, April, Skip and Augie have went to fetch their cars and then they're gonna pick us up here and we're gonna stop him before he gets away with the diamond."

"Then, what are we waiting for?" Shaggy asked. "We should probably get moving now!"

"Of course." Garfield nodded, but before he could continue, he caught a glimpse of Flight Lieutenant Bédard arriving from the hallway and turning towards him. "Hold on a second."

With that, Garfield made his way to Bédard, and the others looked on as the two engaged in a brief conversation.

Then, Garfield nodded before returning to the others.

"On second thoughts, you guys will have to go, because the orchestra and I are gonna be up once the Chans finished their act." Garfield said.

"And you don't know how long the search is gonna last, got it." Fred nodded.

"Don't worry, Garfield, we will manage." Taffy said.

"I'm sure you guys will." Garfield nodded. "Just be sure to keep your walkie-talkies with you."

"Of course." Dee Dee nodded.

Then, as they saw a couple of familiar-looking vehicles pulling up into the parking lot, Fred declared, "Looks like our rides are here."

"Happy hunting." Bédard said to them as he joined Garfield, and Garfield turned towards the flight lieutenant with an amused look on his face.

The others all nodded and smiled in reply before they rushed out of the venue.

Once the Teen Angels and Mystery Inc. had joined the others, Bédard turned towards Garfield as he adjusted his bow tie.

Glancing at his watch, Garfield nodded as he said, "Show time."

* * *

Back on stage, the Chan Clan was amazing the audience with their performance of John Barry Seven's _Hit and Miss_ , where everyone was pretty much tapping their feet with the beat of the music.

In particular, there were a few low whistles and cheers from the audience as Stanley rocked on while playing the middle part of the piece, wagging his hands softly and shifting his feet with the beat.

Eventually, after the Chans finished the piece at the final E major chord, the audience immediately burst into a large round of applause.

The siblings smiled as they bowed, then they waved their hands before making their way off the stage.

Once they were backstage, the Chans saw Garfield and the youth orchestra preparing.

"Hey Garfield, where are the others?" Alan asked.

"Oh, they've gone out to find Mr. Blaney, who we all just realized is the Third Phantom." Garfield replied.

"Mainly because of the lemon smell from his sanitizer?" Henry asked.

"Yes." Garfield nodded. "His office also reeks of lemons, he's nowhere to be seen and that there's no one keeping watch of the _Sevon_ diamond at the Mineral Society."

"Not to mention that he was eager to keep the officers here in the venue, even though the second Phantom has been captured." Suzie said.

"Which provides a perfect opportunity for him to go in and steal the diamond." Stanley nodded. "Though isn't there supposed to be some officers at the Mineral Society keeping watch?"

"Well, the division is short-staffed right now, not to mention that the team keeping watch on the diamond just got called away to respond to an armed robbery." Garfield explained.

"如果那個搶劫案是Blaney先生的調虎離山之計的話，我是不會為此感到驚訝的。" (If that armed robbery was nothing more than a fake call initiated by Mr. Blaney in order for him to get the remaining security away, I won't be surprised.) Henry nodded.

"我也不會驚訝的。" (I won't be surprised, either.) Garfield agreed. "But anyways, the cadets and I are gonna be up soon."

"We can see that." Tom said as he nodded towards the cadets. "Have fun."

Garfield smiled and nodded. "I take it that you guys are gonna join in with the hunt, eh?"

"We might, if only we have the Chan Van with us." Alan replied as he adjusted his glasses.

"I suppose we might as well watch you guys perform in the meantime." Henry said.

Garfield nodded again, and it was then that Barbot finished telling the audience that the orchestra is going to be performing pieces while the judges count the votes each of the contestants has received.

As if on cue, Garfield turned towards the cadets and nodded towards the stage.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	15. A situation and the big chase

**Author's Note: For the segment of the minutes leading up to the big chase, I strongly recommend going onto YouTube and listen to a complete performance of the famous _William Tell Overture_** _ **.**_

 **In addition, as the big chase begins, I also recommend listening to the surf rock version of _Misirlou_ while reading along the chase sequence.**

* * *

Chapter 15: A situation and the big chase

Under the directions of Mystery Inc., the four groups wasted no time finding the Mineral Society building in the eastern part of downtown Montreal, near the Saint Lawrence River.

Getting off the Neptunemobile and the Looney Duney, the group spread around, with Scooby sniffing the ground.

"You got something, Scooby?" Fred asked as Scooby sniffed around.

Scooby sniffed for a while before picking up something, upon which he straightened out like a spear.

"Rere!" Scooby barked as he pointed towards a certain direction.

The group looked towards where Scooby was pointing at, revealing an open door at the side of the three-storey building.

"Blaney must be in the building now." Taffy observed.

"I concur." Biff nodded. "We're gonna have to split up."

"Right." Fred nodded. "Velma and Daphne, you girls will come with me and we'll search the top floor of the building."

"Shelly and Bubbles will come with me and we'll search the second floor." Biff said.

"Meanwhile, April, Cavey and I will search the first floor." Dee Dee declared.

"Skip, Augie and Mudsy, you guys will search the basement." Fred said.

"And what about us?" Shaggy asked as he gestured towards himself, Scooby, Brenda, Taffy, Clam and Jabber.

"You guys are gonna stay put." April replied. "With Taffy's broken leg, we need you guys to keep her company."

"And maybe be prepared to take off at a moments notice should things go south." Clam added.

"But we aren't going to be heading south." Bubble said.

"Bubblehead, he meant that he's gonna prepare the cars for us to take off in should something go wrong." Shelly sighed.

"Anyways, let's get moving, guys." Fred urged. "We're losing time now!"

"And make sure you all are carrying a walkie-talkie." Dee Dee added.

"Right." Augie nodded as he gripped the walkie-talkie in his hand before the group proceeded to split up.

As the group proceeded to split up, Shaggy and glanced towards the sky and noted that it was getting cloudy.

"Looks like it's going to rain soon, guys." Shaggy observed.

No sooner did Shaggy made the remark did lightning struck, followed shortly by thunder. And then, before the group knew it, rain began pouring down.

With everyone staring at him intently, Shaggy then added, "Was it something I just said?"

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Garfield was leading the orchestra in a performance of the William Tell Overture.

The prelude movement, depicting dawn on the Swiss Alps, had just ended, having had been largely dominated by a conversation between the cello and the double bass, though the quiet timpani rolls was a clear sign of what's to come.

A brief pause went by just as the thunder rumbled outside, during which the strings began to move onto the stormy second section of the famous overture.

As the orchestra continued on playing, the strings began to play the notes more intensively, during which the piccolos, flutes and oboes first played the three-note interventions, interventions that were soon replaced by the clarinets and bassoons.

The increase in the intensity of the notes coincided with the increase in the intensity of the storm outside, and there were a few murmurs from the audience as they noted the perfect timing.

Eventually, the storm outside breaks out completely in full just as the brass instruments, particularly the trumpets and horns, joined in, accompanied by the intense timpani rolls and the bass drums.

In fact, as Garfield waved his hands intensively and the orchestra lurched into stormy mode, a very loud crack from the thunder outside can be heard, and the lights in the theatre flashed briefly with the lightning strikes.

* * *

Back at the Mineral Society building, everyone was searching around for any signs of the Phantom or Mr. Blaney.

Already, Skip and Augie have radioed in that there are no signs of anyone in the basement, with Dee Dee, April and Cavey likewise reporting negatives at the first floor.

"Seen anything?" Shelly asked Biff as they searched through the second floor with their flashlights on.

"Other than the fact that it's raining outside, no." Bubbles shook her head.

"Dum dum, I wasn't talking about outside." Shelly slapped her forehead in annoyance. "I was talking about here in the second floor."

"Maybe you should be a little specific." Bubbles said.

"I'm sure my questioning would've already implied that I was talking about here in the second floor, Bubblehead." Shelly sighed.

"Alright, girls." Biff cut in. "Just cut it out and keep looking."

"Easier for you to say when there's no one here." Shelly grumbled. "Not to mention the lack of any lemon smell."

Before Shelly could ramble on, they heard a glass breaking from upstairs.

"Listen." Biff stopped them. "Did you girls hear that?"

"Hear what?" Bubbles asked.

"Bubblehead, he meant the glass breaking sound from upstairs!" Shelly hissed.

Then, there were some scrambling of footsteps from upstairs, and the trio became worried.

"Sounds like Fred and the girls are in trouble." Biff said as he made his way to the nearby stairs. "Come on!"

Shelly and Bubbles shared glances with each other before they followed Biff up the stairs and made their way to the third floor, though almost immediately, as the third floor came into view, there was a figure wearing a dark cape standing not too far ahead from the stairs.

The trio paused and shared glances with each other just as a familiar French-accented voice said, "Now put your hands up in the air."

Biff placed a finger by his mouth, and Shelly and Bubbles both nodded before he silently crept up the stairs.

When Biff reached the top of the stairs, he got a better look at the situation as he saw Fred and Velma with their arms up, while the figure wearing the cape has Daphne at his side with what appeared to be a blade by her neck.

* * *

Fred saw Biff standing behind Mr. Blaney, who at present is holding a sword at Daphne's neck with one hand and holding the _Sevon_ with the other hand, and he waved his hand slightly as if to tell Biff not to move.

In the process, though, he accidentally took a step forwards, prompting Blaney to step backwards with the sword by Daphne's neck.

"Stay back!" Blaney demanded. "I won't ask again!"

The frown on Fred's face only deepened, and the glare on his face turned into daggers.

"You fiend!" Fred said. "You know that you're not getting away with this!"

"Oh, I beg to differ" Blaney chuckled humourlessly. "As long as your friend here has this sword by her neck, there's not a single thing you can do."

"Why do this?" Velma demanded. "Why go through all the trouble just for a lousy diamond that's merely composed of carbon?"

"It's not just any _diamond_ , child." Blaney said as he turned towards Velma. "It's one of the three gems part of a collection of cleaniness treasures."

"The others being the Clean Mineral and the Sanitary Gem, isn't it?" Fred asked through gritted teeth.

"Ah, you kids are smart in figuring that part out." Blaney smirked. "In fact, I've spent a mass fortune trying to acquire the two, though with the legend of the Phantom lurking around, I figured I'd take the easy way in getting my hands on them."

"Your knowledge in the operations of security cameras and the venue gave you the easy cover to plan the heists." Velma narrowed her eyes.

"Again, you kids are correct." Blaney nodded. "It's a shame that you kids aren't smart enough to know not to meddle into someone else's business, especially when such business is something kids your age shouldn't put your noses into."

"Well, when your Phantom appearances disrupted our preparations for the competition, it pretty much becomes our business." Fred narrowed his eyes.

As Fred made the remark, Biff happened to look upwards towards the ceiling, during which he saw a spider climbing its way downwards with Mr. Blaney standing right under it.

Silently, he turned towards Bubbles and Shelly and nodded towards the spider that was getting closer towards Blaney's sword.

With a firm nod, Shelly and Bubbles braced themselves.

"Yeah, right, even though my Phantom never intended to mess with the competition." Blaney snorted as he proceeds to pocket the diamond. "But enough of my ramblings. I've got a ride waiting for me, and unless you kids want to see your friend in one piece, I strongly suggest-"

Before Blaney could finish, he happened to be glancing towards the window when the spider suddenly appeared right in front of him!

* * *

Back at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, the alternating conversations between the English horn and the flute for the Call to the Cows section were slowly concluding as Garfield gently glided his hands to the tune of the English horn and the flute finishing their conversation.

He gently waved his right hand while he slowly lifted a finger on his left hand, one that was to indicate that the section was to be performed gently.

The tingling of the triangle, accompanying the conversation between the English horn and the flute, slowly fades out just before Garfield's hands formed into fists and the trumpets abruptly began playing the famous opening fanfare to the famous finale section of the overture.

As the trumpets played the fanfare, joined shortly by the horns and eventually the whole orchestra, Garfield's right hand swinging became more pronounced.

The orchestra then launched into the galop with some of the cadets and Garfield slowly galloping to the beat of the famous section of the overture, and the lively performance began to provide the impress of one riding on a horse in a chase.

* * *

Blaney's eyes widened in horror at the sight of the spider, and he quickly dropped the sword and the diamond as he recoiled.

"Mon dieu!" (My word!) Blaney exclaimed as he recoiled away from the spider, momentarily forgetting about Daphne. "Une araignée!" (A spider!)

Quickly taking advantage of the commotion, Biff shouted, "Let's go!"

Immediately, the Neptunes rushed towards Fred and the girls while Blaney was busy brushing himself, trying to make sure he didn't get into contact with the spider and the silky web it was making.

"Guys!" Velma exclaimed in relief. "That was perfect-"

"No time for pleasantries!" Shelly snapped as she grabbed Daphne, who had picked up the diamond, by the arm. "Let's get out of here before he can use that sword as a leverage on you guys again!"

"Right, of course." Fred nodded as he and Velma quickly joined them rushing down the stairs.

* * *

Back in the Neptunemobile, Shaggy was seated behind the wheel with Scooby, Clam and Jabber while Taffy, Brenda, Cavey and Dee Dee were seated on the Looney Duney with Skip, Augie and April.

"The rain sure won't let up." Jabber remarked as they looked outside.

While the rain has mostly subsided since that string of lightning strikes, it was still pouring outside and one can find himself or herself soaking wet within the first five minutes of being outside without an umbrella.

"You're telling me." Clam agreed. "I just hope that-"

Before Clam could finish, Shaggy's walkie-talkie burst into life.

"Guys, time to start the vehicles and for us to get out of here!" Fred's voice shouted.

"Like, what happened, Fred?" Shaggy responded.

"No time to explain." Velma said. "We just recovered the diamond, but Blaney's hot on our tails."

"You don't say." Shaggy said as he instinctively started the engine.

Just as Augie started the Looney Duney's engine, the nearby side door slammed open, and Fred, Velma, Daphne, Biff, Shelly and Bubbles rushed out.

"Hurry!" Velma shouted as she and Fred raced over to the Looney Duney. "He's after us!"

"Who?" Jabber asked as Biff, Bubbles, Shelly and Daphne got onto the Neptunemobile.

As she pulled Daphne onto the Neptunemobile, Shelly happened to be looking towards the back, where a pair of lights suddenly turned on, accompanied by the loud rambling of a car engine.

Then, as the tires screeched, the lights became bigger before the car finally made the turn onto the lane in which the Neptunemobile and the Looney Duney are parked at presently.

Everyone's eyes widened when they recognize the driver behind the speeding Panther De Ville.

"Step on it, Shaggy!" Clam shouted.

Immediately, both Shaggy and Augie slammed their foot onto the gas pedals of their respective vehicles, and the two cars quickly lurched down the lane before the Panther De Ville, driven by a crazed Blaney, could slam into them.

* * *

Meanwhile, the audience was cheering and applauding after the orchestra finished its performance of the _William Tell Overture_ , and there were a few whistles as the cadets all stood up and Garfield bowed.

The applause continued on for the next couple of minutes, and then the curtain lowered as Barbot announced the intermission before the scores are released.

"Alright, you all can go on a fifteen-minute break for the intermission." Garfield instructed. "After the intermission is over, we're up again."

The cadets all nodded before they were dismissed, and Garfield turned around before seeing the Chan Clan at the doorway.

"That was quite surreal, I gotta say, Garfield." Suzie remarked.

"Thanks." Garfield nodded before turning serious when he noted the looks of urgency on their faces and then added, "怎麼了?" (What's up?)

"我們有個問題。" (We've got a problem.) Stanley replied.

"什麼樣的問題?" (What kind of problem?) Garfield asked.

"We just got the word from Fred that they've recovered the _Sevon_ diamond." Alan said. "Problem is, now Blaney is chasing them down the streets in close pursuit."

"And that briefly, Daphne was held hostage by Blaney during the confrontation with Blaney." Suzie added.

"Is Daphne alright?" Garfield asked in concern.

"She's fine." Anne replied. "Though I'm sure she must've had quite the scare, especially with Blaney placed the blade of his sword by her neck and threatening her life unless the others don't pursue him."

"I'd imagine." Garfield nodded. "How did they got out of that?"

"From what Biff told us, a spider was responsible for scaring Blaney and enabling the others to free her from his grip." Henry replied. "But anyhow, Blaney's chasing them down the streets as we speak."

Garfield nodded firmly, and it was then that a couple of police officers knocked on the door.

When Garfield turned towards them, one of the officers nodded towards the hallway, beckoning him to join them.

"Alright, you guys stay put." Garfield said as he walked over to the officers. "There's something else I need to tend to."

* * *

 **(Beginning of Chase Sequence. Music: D. Dale's surf rock version of _Misirlou_ )**

The surf rock version of _Misirlou_ starts to play in the background as two pedestrians crosses the main road.

When they saw the speeding Neptunemobile, Looney Duney and Blaney's Panther De Ville speeding down the road, they quickly race across the street in time for the three cars to speed by.

Both Shaggy and Augie were concentrated on the driving, deeply focused on navigating through the late-afternoon rush hour traffic, which includes dodging the streetcars and other cars on the roadway.

When approaching intersections, both Shaggy and Augie had to keep their eyes on the traffic ahead and time their turns so that their respective vehicles will fit into the traffic travelling on the perpendicular roadways without colliding with any of the vehicles.

Amid the honking of car horns from a sharp turn, Jabber noticed the way Blaney made the sharp turn and then commented, "Blaney sure isn't eager to give up on the chase."

"Yeah." Clam agreed. "His style of driving sure looks familiar, especially when compared to this crazy woman with black and white hair who wanted to make dog skin coats out of 99 pups."

 **(For those of you that know _101 Dalmatians,_ who was the woman Clam was referring to?)**

The three cars involved in the crazy chase zig-zaged through the late afternoon Montreal rush hour traffic down the main road.

Soon, the trio got to the part of the avenue where there were five streets running perpendicular to the avenue. Instinctively, Shaggy made a left turn onto the first street, followed immediately by Augie and Blaney close behind.

Several seconds later, Blaney drove across the avenue from the left side on the second street with the Looney Duney chasing it, while the Neptunemobile was driving across the avenue in the same direction on the fourth street.

Then, the Neptunemobile drove across the avenue from the right side on the fifth street, during which Clam, Scooby, Daphne and Jabber are seen playing the chase sequence background song at the back of the van with Clam on the electric guitar, Scooby on the drums, Daphne on the keyboard and Jabber on the trumpet.

Everyone else, including the occupants on the Looney Duney, who was at present driving in the same direction on the third street, were seen nodding their heads at the beat of the music, during which Blaney drove his car across the avenue from the right side on the second street.

After that, the whole chase sequence becomes mixed up, as the three vehicles appeared on different streets and travelling in different directions simultaneously.

At one point, Clam, Scooby, Skip, Augie and Brenda even ended up sitting in the back seats of Blaney's car as the Neptunemobile gives chase.

In spite of the change in vehicles, the five continued to play the piece with Blaney enjoying the beat of the music.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed when Blaney looked back and saw them sitting in the back seats of his car.

Before either one of them could do anything, they had crossed the main avenue and in the next time Blaney's Panther De Ville crosses the avenue again, Shaggy is seen driving the Panther De Ville with all the Neptunes on board while Blaney is now driving the Neptunemobile chasing them and the Looney Duney.

Eventually, the parties involved in the chase were back to their respective vehicles and the three vehicles were now speeding down the main avenue with Blaney giving chase.

 **(End of Chase Sequence)**

Before long, the group can see the Champlain Bridge in the distance, and the sight of various warehouses and rail cars nearby was a sign that they're approaching the Port of Montreal.

"We're gonna have to figure out a way to lose that madman." Shaggy gritted his teeth. "Like, I don't think the Neptunemobile can travel fast with all of this weight."

"You don't say." Shelly said. "Maybe that should teach you guys to bring you Mystery Machine here next time."

"If there's gonna even be a next time." Clam grumbled. "How are you supposed to even know that we're gonna end up getting into this chase?"

"Well, either way." Daphne said. "The sooner we lose Blaney, the better, because we're getting quite stuffed in here."

"Perhaps we can stop by the shore and get Flubberjaw into the water." Shelly suggested.

"No way." Jabber immediately shook his head. "You really think a shark can survive in the waterways of what is no doubt one of North America's busiest ports."

"Yeah, Shelly." Biff agreed. "We're not throwing anyone off the Neptunemobile just because we're too heavy for it to go fast."

"I was merely making a suggestion." Shelly rolled her eyes. "Sheez."

"Well, the others aren't faring any better, either." Daphne pointed out as she looked at the Looney Duney.

Indeed. As Daphne was making the remark, the Teen Angels were getting really squished on the car.

"Man, next time we ought to reinforce these tires and the frames." Skip remarked. "Our combined weight isn't doing any favours to the duney."

"Not to mention it's dragging us down." Dee Dee added as she nodded towards Blaney's Panther De Ville. "With Blaney bound to catch up in any minute, we need a diversion."

"And fast!" Augie added, noting that they're fast-approaching an opening drawbridge right ahead. "Waterway at twelve o'clock!"

"Like, hang on, everyone!" Shaggy shouted as he floored the gas pedal.

Everyone else nodded as they held onto whatever they can find, and Shaggy gritted his teeth as the Neptunemobile sped up the roadway.

In slow motion, the occupants of the Looney Duney looked on as the Neptunemobile sailed across the widening gap over the waterway.

* * *

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	16. The Final Phantom and the tie-breaker

Chapter 16: The Final Phantom and a couple of tie-breaking performances

Everyone on the Looney Duney looked on astonishingly as the Neptunemobile sailed through the air before landing on the other end of the drawbridge, upon which they all collectively sighed in relief.

"At least they made it across the waterway." Velma remarked.

"If they can do it, what are we waiting here for?" Skip asked his brother. "In case you've forgotten, madman there is still after us."

"I would love to step right up and get across the opening drawbridge like they just did." Augie nodded towards the drawbridge. "There's just one small problem."

"What is it?" Fred asked.

"We're running low on gas." Augie replied. "The heavy weight the Looney Duney is carrying - us, that is - combined with the chase we went through drained the gas tank relatively quick."

"A nice fine time to find out on that!" Skip snapped in annoyance.

"Well, there's no room for arguing, boys." April said bluntly, nodding outside as she spoke.

Sure enough, Blaney got out of his car and wasted no time approaching the Looney Duney with the sword in hand.

"You kids really have some nerve stealing the diamond from me." Blaney said as he draw the blade at Augie's neck.

"Well, the diamond's not yours!" Dee Dee said crossly as she discretely turned on her walkie-talkie.

"Coming from someone who doesn't appreciate the efforts I went through to acquire the diamonds for my collection." Blaney's eyes narrowed into slits. "But enough. I know your friend has the diamond with her, so I'm giving you kids two options here."

Gripping the handle of his sword, he continued, "Either you radio in your friends and tell them to come back and return me the diamond, or I use this blade on your friend here."

"For someone who puts great emphasis on cleanliness, you sure seem eager to get blood in your hands just for a lousy diamond." Brenda said.

"You watch your mouth." Blaney snapped as he glared at Brenda. "Don't even think that I'm bluffing here."

As Augie swallowed, Blaney continued, "I mean it when I said that I will be using this blade on your friend here if you don't radio in your friends and tell them what I just told you."

On the other side of the waterway, the others were listening intently through the walkie-talkie Biff was carrying.

"What do we do, what do we do?" Clam panicked. "Augie's in great danger if we don't comply to Blaney's demands."

"And there's no telling if Blaney's gonna hold onto his end of the deal if we do give him back the diamond." Biff pointed out.

"Like, there's gotta be something we can do." Shaggy said.

"And what, pray tell, do you suggest that we do?" Shelly placed her hands on her hips.

As Shelly made the remark, Daphne glanced at the purple bag that was attached to the diamond, and she paused her lips as she thought of something.

"I believe I have something that can get us out of this mess." The redhead spoke.

"Well, whatever it is, we need to implement it quick, Daph." Shaggy said. "Because the last thing we need is Augie to end up like the Headless Horseman!"

* * *

Back at the Looney Duney, Daphne's voice came through Dee Dee's walkie-talkie.

"We're coming back with the diamond, guys." Daphne spoke.

"Good." Blaney said. "And this better not be some trick, because-"

Before he could finish, though, he felt someone pinching his wrists suddenly, causing him to yelp in pain as he let go of the sword.

As Blaney rubbed his wrists, his sword suddenly took off and flew right into the water.

"No!" Blaney shouted as his sword sank under the water, though before he could turn towards the kids, the Neptunemobile once again drove over the opened drawbridge and came to a stop.

"Hey, Swordless Knight!" Daphne shouted as she rolled down the window and held out a purple bag. "Looking for this?"

Recognizing the purple bag holding the _Sevon_ , Blaney marched towards the Neptunemobile. "Give it to me!"

"Then, come and get it!" Daphne taunted as she threw the purple bag towards the waterway.

The bag landed right on the water, and it started to sink.

"No!" Blaney shouted as he quickly jumped into the waterway. "Can't let it sink!"

The occupants on the Neptunemobile snickered, and the occupants on the Looney Duney turned towards them in confusion.

"What was that for?" Mudsy asked as he appeared.

"You'll see." Shaggy replied as Blaney waded around the water.

He soon found the purple bag and laughed as he quickly scooped it up from the water. "Found it!"

Looking at the two vehicles, he then laughed as he added, "In your faces, meddl-"

As he was making the remark, Blaney reached into the purple bag, though his smile of triumph quickly disappeared when he pulled out the object in the bag.

Contrary to the _Sevon_ , a half-eaten dog biscuit with drool dripping from it was what he pulled out from the bag.

"Y-yuck!" Blaney stammered as he quickly shook the dog biscuit off. "I've got dog drool all over me!"

As that was happening, the kids got off their vehicles with Daphne holding the _Sevon_ diamond.

Seeing the diamond in Daphne's possession, Blaney cursed as he held his fist up in anger. "You blasted meddling kids!"

The group high-fived each other in triumph while sirens can be heard in the distance.

* * *

A short while later, the area was swarmed with police as officers arrived to arrest Henri Blaney.

"Well done, kids." Captain Clouseau said. "You've captured the man responsible for the recent string of thefts and kept the _Sevon_ diamond safe."

"Ah, not a problem, Captain Clouseau." Velma waved a hand. "We're just glad to have played our parts in sending that madman to where he rightfully belongs."

"And no doubt he's gonna be spending a long time locked up, especially after Mr. Wu kept us appraised of the developments." Clouseau said. "In fact, shortly before the capture, I've had the CID execute a warrant to search Mr. Blaney's apartment, where we recovered the two stolen gems."

"That's good to know, Captain." Dee Dee nodded. "In anyway, I suppose it is case closed for the diamond theft cases, huh?"

"Yes." Clouseau nodded.

"Say, speaking of Garfield, where is he?" April said as she joined in. "I just got off the radio with the Chans, and while they're relieved that Daphne is alright, they said that Garfield was called over to take care of something."

"Yes, Lieutenant Godbout and I did." Clouseau said. "It was in relation to the progress of the Rempel case."

"Oh, so how did the forensic accounting search went?" Biff asked.

"The specialist was able to comb through the accounting figures and come up with a name." Clouseau replied. "However, we're not releasing any names at the moment, owing to another development from your competition."

"What sort of development?" Fred asked.

"It's the scores you two contestants have received, and from what I understand, you are heading into a run-off." Clouseau said.

* * *

When the group returned to the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Garfield and the youth orchestra had just finished a performance of von Suppe's famous _Light Cavalry Overture._

The screens beside the stage in the theatre explained the reason behind the run-off: Both Mystery Inc. and the Chan Clan have received 15 281 points, while Christine Damon received a mere score of 619, which means Mystery Inc. and the Chan Clan are taking part in the run-off for the first place prize.

It was clear that Christine Damon wasn't happy one bit about her getting eliminated from the competition, and she threw the group a glare on her way out as they entered the venue.

"She asked for it." Shelly snorted as she gestured towards Christine, once she was out of earshot.

There were some murmurs within the group as they made their way towards backstage, during which Garfield swung his hands in an upbeat fashion with the light crashes of the crash cymbals and the final notes of the overture.

Eventually, after a prolong timpani roll, the brass section and the orchestra played the final three A notes, accompanied by a few more crashes of the crash cymbals.

The audience roared and stood up for the applause, and once again, after motioning the cadets to stand up, Garfield turned around and bowed towards the audience.

During this time, the group turned towards the Chan Clan as they prepared to get onto the stage.

"So I suppose it's round two, eh?" Fred remarked to Henry.

"Yep." Henry nodded.

"What are you guys gonna perform?" Dee Dee asked.

"You guys will all find out when our turn to get onto the stage comes." Suzie winked.

The others turned towards each other and nodded thoughtfully, during which Garfield and the cadets made their way backstage.

"Hey, guys." Garfield greeted as he walked towards the group. "Case has been closed, I presume?"

"Yep." Biff nodded. "Though first, if it isn't Daphne that got the scare from Blaney's blade, then it was Augie."

"That madman." Garfield shook his head. "At least it's good to know that he's now been taken into custody, and with the police recovering the stolen diamonds at his apartment, I highly doubt he's gonna see the light of day for at least twenty five years, forty years if you include the two counts of attempted murder."

Everyone one else nodded and murmured in agreement as Barbot announced the Chan Clan's performance for the tie-breaker.

"Anyways, let's see what the Chans have in store." Skip suggested as he nodded towards the stage.

Everyone's attention was soon drawn onto the Chan Clan as the curtain rises, during which everyone noted that Stanley and Anne were no longer holding their guitars.

Instead, Stanley is now armed with a trombone as he joined Tom, while Anne is now armed with a clarinet.

 **(For this segment, I strongly suggest listening to Benny Goodman's rendition of _Sing, Sing, Sing_ )**

Before anyone knew it, Henry began hitting the drums started playing the rhythms of Benny Goodman's rendition of _Sing, Sing, Sing._

"Like, it's Benny Goodman's _Sing, Sing, Sing._ " Shaggy recognized the piece as Henry began playing the solo introduction, and everyone looked at him in confusion.

Then, as Stanley and Tom joined in with their trombone and trumpet, the others nodded.

"Wow, how did you know that, Shag?" Augie asked.

"He wouldn't be Central's Swingingest if he doesn't know some swing music pieces." Dee Dee said.

"I'll say." Daphne agreed. "I suppose there's a reason why Henry has joined Shag in the music club. He sure taught Henry well."

Everyone nodded in agreement as they were drawn into the swing frenzy as the siblings began to join in with their instruments, with the trombones, saxes and drums dominating the piece as they repeated the main theme.

The others, watching from backstage, began to nod along with the beat of the music, and a few of them started clapping to the rhythm of the piece.

A few others also started dancing to the beat of the hit swing piece, especially as Anne stepped forward and played her clarinet solo part in the middle of the piece.

The audience began to clap to the rhythm, and there were a few cheers as Anne played her clarinet solo part.

As the Chan Clan continued with their performance, the gang were gathered together with their instruments in hand.

"You guys sure you know what you're doing?" Velma whispered to Shaggy and Scooby.

"It's not much, but at least we're gonna put up with a show, fair and square." Daphne said.

The boys all nodded as attention was drawn back to the Chan Clan, during which the siblings continued swinging along with the piece.

The brass instruments continued with the main theme of the piece, and then they eventually swung out with the final A minor key.

At the final key, the audience once again roared and stood up as they applauded the performance, and everyone backstage joined in with the applause.

"You guys sure know how to bring down the house." Velma remarked later as the Chans made their way backstage.

"Ah, Shaggy's the one to thank." Henry waved a hand as he smiled. "He wouldn't have introduced us to this marvelous piece if he didn't talk me into joining the music club and planning committee for school events."

"Perhaps you guys are also gonna have Shag to thank when we win first prize." Anne added.

Sharing glances with each other, the gang shrugged.

"We'll see." Daphne said as Barbot introduced Mystery Inc. once more.

"Anyways, good luck with your performance." Stanley patted Shaggy in the back as the gang made their way onto the stage.

* * *

The audience quieted down as the curtains rised, revealing the gang with their instruments, though this time, only Fred has the trumpet while Velma is now armed with a tambourine.

In addition, Daphne is now at the keyboard with Scooby at the drumset while Shaggy remains with his guitar.

There was some silence as all eyes were on the gang, including from backstage.

After taking a deep breath, Shaggy gently lifted his guitar with his left hand before gliding it back down just as he struck the strings with his right hand, proceeding to play the opening cords of Dick Dale's rendition of _Misirlou_.

There was some cheers from the audience as the gang began to rock onto the surf rock rendition of the famous Ottoman-Greek folk piece, and Scooby began striking the drums while Fred and the girls began nodding along.

Watching the gang perform on stage and rocking along with the piece, Taffy turned towards the others and remarked, "Say, isn't that piece the same one we heard while Blaney was chasing us down the streets earlier?"

"Who cares?" Biff asked. "Now this piece is making me wanna go surf."

"You and me both, Biff." Shelly agreed as they began rocking along with the piece.

Shaggy's playing of the main theme as a solo guitar part was soon followed by Fred playing the solo trumpet part, all as Scooby and Velma rocked on.

As soon as Fred finished his part, Shaggy once again jumped in as he repeated the main theme and Fred's part by guitar, playing it solo briefly before Scooby and Velma resumed the tambourines and drum-playing.

* * *

Eventually, by the time the gang finished with their tie-breaking performance, the audience roared and applauded loudly.

As the gang bowed, there were more cheers and whistles, both from the audience and from backstage.

"You guys sure know how to rock." Biff slapped Fred in the back later as the gang returned to backstage.

"Yeah, now we all wanna go surfing." Alan agreed.

"I suppose that also means that there's still plenty from Shag for me to learn." Henry remarked.

"Oh, you guys swung it hard and hit it out of the ballpark." Shaggy said.

"Either way, it looks like you guys have both brought down the house with your tie-breaking performance." April said.

"Don't we know it." Fred said as he and Henry both nodded in agreement.

* * *

Once again, during the brief break time, Garfield and the youth orchestra were brought on to perform another piece.

This time, it was a fifteen-minute performance of Tchaikovsky's _Capricho Italiano_ , which was then followed by the reveal of the final score.

"And now, let's see how much the family band and the band of five have received." Barbot announced.

Everyone looked on intently towards the screens as the scores began to increase.

* * *

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	17. The winner and an arrest

Chapter 17: The winner, an arrest and the concert begins

Everyone in the audience stands and backstage collectively held their breaths as the numbers on the screen continued to tick upwards.

After what felt like eternity, the numbers finally settled down with the following scores on display:

"The Chans - 19723 vs. Mystery Inc. - 19699"

"And it looks like we've got a winner!" Barbot announced once the final score was tallied. "The Chan siblings!"

As the audience cheered and applauded, everyone at backstage turned towards the Chans as congratulations were in order.

"Way to go, guys!" Skip said as he playfully slapped Stanley in the back. "You guys won!"

"You guys sure rocked the house." Shaggy added as he patted Alan in the back.

"And you guys earned the victory." Daphne agreed as she hugged Suzie.

"Thanks, guys." Henry smiled.

Eventually, the applause from the audience grew as the Chans made their way onto the stage towards Barbot, who then proceeded to hand Henry the trophy while shaking his hand.

The two then paused briefly for photos to be taken, during which everyone continued clapping.

After the trophy was presented, several of the stage hands arrived with the $10 000 cheque for the winner, and the cheers and applause continued.

Several more photos later, Henry and his siblings held onto the giant cheque and waved their hands, while Barbot joined everyone else in clapping their hands.

* * *

Eventually, after the venue was cleared following the sign off from the live television networks, Barbot made his way to backstage.

The group were all there, still congratulating the Chans for their first prize win, during which Barbot turned towards Garfield, who was observing the group.

" _I suppose I have you and your American friends to thank for clearing up the mess behind these Phantom appearances._ " Barbot said. " _Not to mention you and the orchestra stepping in and performing the fillers for the show._ "

" _Ah, the pleasure's mine,_ Monsieur Barbot." Garfield waved his hand. " _And yes, I am glad to be of assistance to close the case._ "

As Garfield was speaking, Captain Clouseau, Lieutenants Godbout and Picard and Sergeant Mauriat approached the doorway, accompanied by a couple of officers.

The backstage area fell silent when they saw the four investigators at the doorway, during which Barbot asked, " _Though what seem to be the matter? Isn't the case closed? Why is the police still here?_ "

" _Ah, the police have a couple of updates they'd like to share with us._ " Garfield said before turning towards the doorway and motioned them to enter.

"Ah, Captain Clouseau." Fred said in greeting. "Did you guys have the chance to see our performances?"

"Unfortunately, duty calls." Clouseau shrugged apologetically. "However, I'm sure it was spectacular, especially given that you and your competitor rocked the house in your tie-breaker."

"So anyways, what's the occasion?" April asked the captain.

"Oh, just a couple of things." Clouseau said before he motioned Picard to take over.

"Yes." Picard nodded. "So Henri Blaney had admitted to stealing the two diamonds in the past weeks. However, his statement had some discrepancies that we'd thought you kids could clear for us."

The group shared glances with each other before Velma asked, "What sort of discrepancies are we talking about here?"

"Mainly how you kids managed to disarm the suspect while he was still holding your friend as a shield." The sergeant stated.

April, Skip and Augie shared glances with each other, during which the others caught onto the fact that they're trying to explain something that can fill the discrepancy without sounding ridiculous.

After all, how does one explain that the ghost from colonial-era Delaware managed to first pinched Blaney in the wrist, then possessed Blaney's sword and directed it into the waterway.

"Well, I suppose Blaney's constant hand motions of applying his hand sanitiser did result in some joint pains not unlike arthritis, pains that spiked up when he gripped the sword too hard." Shaggy offered.

"And then, he likely slipped on a wet puddle and let go of his sword, resulting in it flying off and landed in the waterway." Augie added, rubbing his neck as he spoke.

Clouseau had his eyes fixed on April, Skip and Augie's faces before he and Godbout, Picard and Mauriat shared glances with each other, then they nodded thoughtfully as the latter two jot down notes.

"I suppose these explanations covers the discrepancies." Mauriat nodded.

"Alright, then." Henry said. "And what's the second thing you guys will like to talk about?"

"Namely the name we've obtained as a result of our reopening of the Rempel case." Clouseau said before turning towards Barbot, who was starting to look a little uncomfortable.

Godbout produced a file and showed it to Barbot as he asked, _"Do you recognized this account,_ Monsieur Barbot?"

Barbot frowned as he looked at the file, then he nodded.

" _An offshore bank account I've opened to manage the funds the venue has received_." Barbot replied. " _That was before I was_ _appointed as general manager of the venue, in which I was the chief financial officer._ "

" _Then, you recognize this amount and the deposit date here, do you?_ " Clouseau asked as he pointed at a specific entry.

Barbot swallowed, then noticing the content of the other file Godbout was holding, he looked at Clouseau and said, " _I believe I will like to speak to my barrister, right now._ "

" _Unfortunately, I'm not sure if a barrister is going to be of much help for you,_ Monsieur Barbot." Clouseau pressed on before turning towards the two officers at the doorway and nodded. " _Because we've got a witness here who can point the finger of embezzlement and money laundering to you, a witness who was, until recently, facing trial for the charges you would likely be facing._ "

The two officers at the doorway nodded back at the captain, then one of them motioned a man to enter, and it was then that Garfield and Mystery Inc. recognized the man.

"Milton Rempel, who was the financial manager at the venue at the time before his arrest for embezzlement and grand larceny." Fred recognized.

"Yes, that's me." Rempel nodded at Fred before he turned towards Barbot and glared, " _You've had some nerve blackmailing me into taking the fall for you,_ Henri."

Barbot only glared back at Rempel as the latter turned towards Clouseau, and the two men launched into a conversation with Garfield raising an eyebrow as he listened.

The air cadet then turned towards the others, during which they all arched their eyebrows.

"Well, apparently, Barbot managed to obtain compromising photos of Rempel being in a...rather unusual form of relationship." Garfield summarized. "One that will sure end his career if Barbot followed through with his threats."

"All because of the unusual nature of that relationship?" Clam folded his arms. "What is it with people judging others for whoever they're sleeping with?"

"Don't ask." Garfield shrugged. "But anyways, Rempel was the one who got wind of Barbot's embezzlement scheme, and he also learned of Barbot using several bank accounts, including the offshore one, to launder the embezzled funds."

"And I take it that Barbot also blackmailed Rempel into taking the fall for the string of heists that has rendered a lot of countless artifacts as missing." Fred frowned.

Garfield glanced at Barbot, who shook his head.

"I don't know anything about those missing artifacts, honest!" Barbot claimed.

" _Oh, shut your piehole,_ Henri." Rempel growled. " _You're only digging yourself into a deeper hole by denying the fact that you won't be spending time outside for long._ "

The others only shared glances with each other while Clouseau stepped in and said, "Okay, c'est assez!" (Okay, that's enough!)

"Oui." Godbout agreed as he motioned the officers to step in and handcuff Barbot, during which he added, "Monsieur Henri Barbot, _you are under arrest for embezzlement, extortion, fraud, breach of trust and money laundering. You have the right to remain silent and retain the advice of counsel._ "

* * *

 _May 16, 1972_

After everything that has unfolded the previous day, everyone had decided to take the rest of the previous afternoon off, which then led to that morning when they arrived at the venue.

"After everything that has happened, I supposed we all needed the rest before we come back to retrieve our stuff." Fred remarked as they walked through the entrance to the venue.

"Yeah." April agreed. "And since we're not scheduled to board the _Canadian_ until tomorrow afternoon, we can take the day off to take a look around the city."

"True." Velma nodded. "And don't forget about Garfield's concert tonight as well."

"Oh, yeah." Suzie said. "I almost forgot about Garfield's concert in the venue next door tonight."

"Say, speaking of Garfield, guys." Clam said as he saw Garfield enterring the venue through the main doorway, where he was accompanied by Clouseau and Godbout.

Everyone turned towards the trio, and they paused and nodded in greeting.

"Hey guys." Garfield said.

"Hey Garfield." Brenda greeted. "What's the occasion?"

"Just the progress on yesterday's case." Garfield said. "You don't happen to have seen Mr. Rempel here, right?"

"We just got here." Daphne replied. "Perhaps he's in his old office, which, well, is once again becoming his office now that he's been reinstated."

"That's where we're heading." Clouseau stated.

"And I take it that you guys are here to pack up your stuff and clear out your rooms, eh?" Garfield added.

"Yes, we are." Henry nodded. "Though we can do that later if you would like us to join you guys in getting the closures you needed for the case, eh?"

"That won't be necessary, though appreciated." Godbout said.

"Barbot still hasn't given up anything about those stolen artifacts that are still missing from last year's case, huh?" Fred frowned.

"That's right." Clouseau nodded. "He still continues to insist that he knows nothing about the whereabouts of the missing artifacts."

"Of course he will." Dee Dee folded her arms. "I won't be surprised if he's squealing the way he did just to save his own neck."

"Well, regardless, we still have to leave no stone uninterrupted." Godbout said. "Come on."

* * *

"Je suis profondément désolé." (I am deeply sorry.) Rempel later said to the group as they gathered in his office, with Fred, Dee Dee, Biff, April, Henry, Garfield, Clouseau and Godbout inside while the others were gathered at the open doorway nearby. " _But I'm not sure if I can help you all on that._ "

" _Well, you were the prop master back then._ " Clouseau pressed. " _Surely you would've noticed that some of the props that were to be used for the operatic productions weren't exactly props._ "

" _Especially when the artifacts have distinct visible characteristics on them that makes them genuine._ " Godbout added.

" _Well, since Henri is insisting in giving you guys a hard time, I really can't say I'm surprised that he insists that I may know something about those missing artifacts._ " Rempel sighed.

Fred, Dee Dee, April, Biff and Henry all paused their lips and nodded as Garfield translated for them, then Dee Dee stepped forward.

"You don't suppose it's normal for Barbot to dump emotional baggage on others, eh?" Dee Dee asked.

"He can be the arrogant and bossy type." Rempel nodded. "With him in where he's at, it shouldn't be a surprise that he's dumping all the emotional baggage on others, especially when he's pressed on the whereabouts of those missing artifacts."

As Rempel was speaking, Garfield glanced around the office as he adjusted his wedge cap slightly, during which he noticed a CP Rail train ticket for the _Atlantic Limited_ sitting on the desk.

"But anyways, the interim general manager has told me that the office will be ready for me in a week's time." Rempel continued. "So I'll be out of town for some relaxation for the next few days."

"Of course." Clouseau nodded before he placed his card on Rempel's desk and continued. " _If there is something you can think of that can help with the case, please don't hesitate to contact me._ "

" _Of course._ " Rempel nodded back as the visitors prepared to take their leaves.

" _Thank you very much for your time_ , Monsieur Rempel." Godbout said as he shook Rempel's offered hand.

" _The pleasure's mine,_ Lieutenant." Rempel nodded back. " _I'm just relieved that my name has finally been cleared, can't say I blame you guys for what you did, since Henri sure is good in playing others._ "

Godbout only firmly nodded, and Fred raised his arm in goodbye as he said, "Have yourself a nice trip, Mr. Rempel."

* * *

After clearing out of their rooms at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, the group spent the afternoon getting around the city and touring its landmarks.

In particular, April, Skip and Augie led Mudsy through a tour of Old Montreal, where the ghost recognized many of the landmarks they were passing by.

The visit to the historical site included a tour guide leading the entourage through the old city, and the trio listened intently as the tour guide took the time to explain many of the battles that were fought in Montreal during the Continental Army's ill-fated Invasion of Quebec in 1775.

"I served under Major General Wooster when we took the city." Mudsy nodded after the tour was over and it was just him and the three kids. "Even to this day, I really wonder how on earth did he get selected to administer the city, especially when a large portion of its population speaks French."

"Weren't the French-speaking population resenting British rule and were seeking the opportunity to drive them out?" Skip asked.

"There were plenty, but I suppose you can say that Wooster was arrogant and stubborn." Mudsy explained. "He has a tendency to make last-minute changes to carefully-crafted plans, and the effectiveness of his efforts to suppress the propaganda of the Loyalists was really questionable."

"Sounds like we wouldn't have travelled across an international border had Wooster been more competent and the Continental Army being more familiar with the lay of the land." April remarked.

"You can say that." Mudsy nodded.

In that same time, Garfield and the orchestra went through one last rehearsal before the concert at the Théâtre Maisonneuve that night.

Much of that rehearsal involved the cadets going through their parts diligently, and Garfield and the officers made sure that the details in their performances were polished off.

Once they went through that final rehearsal, the orchestra took the trip back to the CMR for dinner and then change into their No. 2 Mess dress uniforms.

Eventually, it was 19:45 as the group arrived at the Théâtre Maisonneuve, with Garfield waiting for them at the front entrance.

Garfield smiled as the group approached him. They were all dressed semi-casual-formally, with all of the guys wearing dress shirts while the girls were now wearing skirts with blouses.

"Hey guys." Garfield greeted.

"Hey Garfield." April greeted back. "You got the tickets?"

"Yes." Garfield nodded as he handed the tickets to each of them. "Here they are."

"Swell." Velma smiled as she looked at her ticket. "You managed to get front row seats for us?"

"Affirmative." Garfield nodded again. "Best view of the orchestra in the venue."

Everyone else nodded in agreement before Garfield glanced at his watch before adding, "Anyways, better get going now. Show's about to start."

* * *

Upon getting through the ushers and being issued the programme package, the group made their way into the theatre.

As the group took their seats at the front row in the theatre, the cadets were finishing warming up on the stage.

Then, after the ushers have closed the main doors, the murmurs from the audience began to quiet down as the lights in the theatre dimmed and the concertmaster made his way onto the stage.

All of the cadets remain seated, and then the concertmaster reached the podium, turned towards the orchestra and then extended his hand out.

At that gesture, the brass section began playing the A notes, and the rest of the orchestra soon followed suit as they do some last minute adjustment to the tune and pitch of their instruments.

McGarrett nodded at the orchestra, then he proceeded to take his seat, during which the audience began applauding as Garfield made his way onto the stage.

Upon taking the podium, Garfield turned towards the audience and bowed before turning back towards the orchestra, where he nodded at McGarrett.

The group, seated at the front row seats, looked on in anticipation as Garfield raised his arms, and the cadets all got their instruments ready.

Then, Garfield swung his hands down, and the orchestra immediately responded with the strong playing of the opening F minor key for Beethoven's _Egmont Overture._

 **(For this short segment, I recommend listening to Beethoven's _Egmont Overture_ while reading.)**

Much of the first couple minutes of the overture was marked by was marked by the gentle playing of the orchestra, painting the picture of the oppression that led to the title character of the play decide to go on his heroic journey for the freedom of his people.

While Garfield led the orchestra through the performance of the section of the overture depicting the heroic journey and the adventures and difficulties faced by the hero, the group quietly murmured with each other.

"Beethoven sure is one genius, with his scoring of this incidental music for the play depicting the adventures of Count Egmont of what was then the Spanish Netherlands prior to the Eighty Years' War." Velma remarked.

"I take it that Count Egmont's journey and adventures was as colourful as the music Garfield and the orchestra are doing a great job interpreting." Taffy remarked.

"Yes, though the tale of Count Egmont's journey wasn't a happy one, especially as this particular section of the overture depicts his capture and subsequent execution by the Spanish." Velma frowned.

The others nodded thoughtfully, during which Garfield gently guided the orchestra through the transitional part of the overture, marked by the gentle playing of the wind instruments.

Then, his hands began to swiftly dance, which was marked by a gentle timpani roll, accompanied by the strings surging in their playing with the transition to the section painting the picture of the hero's sacrifice inspiring the people to revolt against the oppressive regime.

Shaggy, Scooby, Brenda, Tom, Stanley, Henry, Suzie, Clam, Jabber, Bubbles, Daphne, Skip and April were all holding their breaths while the brass section joined in and began depicting the uprising, an uprising that was ultimately successful in overthrowing the oppressive regime.

While the orchestra buzzed along in the portrait of the uprising, Anne remarked to Velma.

"Sounds like Count Egmont's execution for treason by the Spaniards inspired the Dutch to revolt against the Spanish rule." Anne said.

"Yes, it did." Velma nodded. "And judging from both history books and the triumphant fanfare by the brass section of the orchestra, the resulting Eight Years War ended with the Spanish recognizing Dutch independence."

Everyone else nodded, during which the final surge ended with the orchestra playing the resounding three final F major notes.

After the final note was played, Garfield kept his hands up in the air, and then a minute went by before the audience erupted into a loud round of applause, accompanied by whistling and cheers.

* * *

 **Please read and review!**


	18. A scandal in Bohemia and the takedown

Chapter 18: A scandal in Bohemia and the takedown

After bowing at the audience, Garfield turned back towards the orchestra and joined the cadets in flipping the scores in front of them.

Sharing glances with the cadets, Garfield nodded when they confirmed that they're all on the same page.

Lifting both his hands again, Garfield glanced at the cadets as they get their instruments ready once again.

Then, he gently swung his hands down as the orchestra began to gently play the opening D major note of Dvořák's _Czech Suite._

 **(For this transformative segment, I recommend listening to Dvořák's _Czech Suite_ while reading.)**

Before Garfield knew it, he was once again walking down a street in Old Prague.

Crossing the Charles Bridge, Garfield once again noted the birds chirping nearby while watching the Vltava River flowing below the bridge.

When he arrived at Prague Castle, he saw the group also at the castle doors with the local police nearby.

"Hey guys." Garfield said as he approached the group. "What's going on?"

"Oh, Garfield." Velma greeted. "Your timing couldn't have been better. The police are quite stumped at this latest case we've got."

"What case are we talking about here?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

"The Bohemian Crown Jewels have been stolen." Alan explained. "Not to mention a ghost knight was haunting the castle grounds."

"Sounds familiar." Garfield remarked. "Is the ghost knight involved in the theft of the Crown Jewels?"

"That's the weird part." Dee Dee as she stepped forward. "We just helped the police capture the culprit behind the Ghost Knight, but he doesn't seem to know a single thing about the theft of the crown jewels."

"Figures." Garfield nodded as he joined them and took a good look at the culprit. "Say, he looks familiar."

"You've met him before, Garfield?" April asked.

"No, but I've seen his photo on the newspaper a short while ago, when he accompanied the King of Bohemia on a state visit to Canada." Garfield replied before narrowing his eyes and added, "His name is Count Rudolf Bořivoj Masaryk, a personal friend of the King."

The group shared confused looks with the each other, during which one of the police officers turned towards Garfield.

"I don't understand it." He said to Garfield. "Why would Count Masaryk dress up as a knight and scare away the occupants?"

Garfield turned towards the count and frowned, during which he took off his flat cap and nodded towards the castle door.

"Mind if we take a look at the chamber room where the crown jewels were stored at?" He asked the police officers.

* * *

"Rudolf Bořivoj Masaryk..." Garfield thought to himself as the orchestra began playing the D minor polka second movement of the suite. "...那個名子看起來很熟悉。" (...that name looks familiar.)

In that same time, at their seats, the gang were starting to think about that fantasy vision they were in.

"Why does a Czech name sound familiar after everything we've went through...?" Daphne frowned. "Rudolf Bořivoj Masaryk...RBM..."

"RBM...sounds like a type of barbecue if you ask me." Clam whispered.

"No, wait..." Shaggy held a finger. "Like, I could've sworn that Garfield had shown us a name with that initial that sounds like a type of barbecue."

"RBM...RBM..." Garfield thought to himself which his mind flashes back once again.

GARFIELD'S FLASH VISION - Two Days Ago

 _May 14, 1972_

Their voices echoed as he and the others went through several of the evidence from the First Phantom's arrest in the Chan Clan's room that evening.

"Mr. Cloutier had hinted that the arsonist was seeking to burn the financial trail that would suggest that the embezzled money was laundered and invested into a bank account." Dee Dee's voice echoed.

"A financial trail that was in his office." Stanley asked.

"That's right, hence the reason why Frum was hired to try to burn down the office in the venue." Taffy nodded. "Luckily for us and the police, the fire department arrived quickly and that Cavey managed to subdue the arsonist before he could do more damage."

"Indeed." Garfield agreed. "Anyways, Mr. Cloutier's name kept appearing on the pages in the binder here and there, though there's nothing to suggest that he was involved in the schemes in any way."

"In fact, while he had personally still find it difficult to believe that Rempel did what he had done, Mr. Cloutier did have his own suspicions on what Rempel did last year that he didn't think too much about until we reopened the case." Dee Dee said. "Especially given that as Rempel's assistant, Mr. Cloutier didn't have what it takes to piece together what was going on back then."

"Which then brings us to the bank account in which the embezzled money was laundered and invested into." Garfield said. "Now, in addition to financial affairs, Mr. Cloutier is also responsible for transactions to and from the venue's bank accounts and payroll."

"One of which includes a certain bank account with the Dominion Capital Bank registered under a name that isn't in the venue's payroll." Taffy said.

"The bank account in which the embezzled money was laundered and invested into." Henry interjected.

"Correct." Garfield nodded. "Upon tracing the financial trail with what Mr. Cloutier provided, we found that, in addition to significant deposits made into the bank account in question, **Roberto B. Morton** also had a safe deposit box with the Westmount Branch of the bank."

"A branch of the bank that also has provided specialized safe deposit storage for luxury items such as diamonds." Brenda added.

"And we all know that some of the artifacts, including the Ring of Rhinegold, were never recovered." Suzie pointed out.

END FLASH VISION

"Roberto B. Morton!" Garfield's mind clicked in recognition. "So that's where that RBM initial came from!"

The others all nodded as well as they came to the same conclusion, during which they were once again transported back to that fantasy vision.

* * *

Over at the chamber room, the group didn't take too long as they figured out how the crown jewels were taken.

"So the culprit have the jewels disguised as props for the theatre production at the castle yesterday." The second police officer nodded. "Clever."

"It is indeed." Fred nodded. "The culprit had the jewels swapped with the identical-looking props the day before the production."

"Then, following the production, the jewels were loaded into a suitcase, with the culprit intending to travel out the country with it under the guise of organizing another theatre production of the same play overseas." Biff said.

"Except that once the culprit's out of country, he's not going to return." Dee Dee pointed out.

"Not to mention the culprit didn't count on the castle organizing a theatre festival that required the use of those same props that were swapped with the crown jewels." April added.

"Okay, then." The third police officer nodded. "Do you kids know where the suitcase the crown jewels were loaded onto is at?"

It was then that Garfield's eyes lightened as he remembered seeing a suitcase backstage at the theatre, and he said, "Follow me."

A short while later, the group were backstage at the theatre, where they found a dusty brown suitcase.

Gathered around the suitcase, Augie knelt down beside it and glanced at Garfield, who nodded firmly at him.

Nodding back, Augie proceeded to open the suitcase, revealing the crown jewels inside.

* * *

"That dusty brown suitcase looks familiar..." Augie whispered, "Where have I seen it before?"

"It was only a fantasy vision, bro." Skip replied. "Chill out."

"No, he's right." Clam urged. "I could've sworn we've caught a glimpse of that dusty brown suitcase somewhere."

"As do I..." Dee Dee nodded.

As Dee Dee made the remark, something else clicked in Garfield's mind as he guided the orchestra through the transition from the _Sousedská_ third movement to the _Romance_ fourth movement of the suite.

GARFIELD'S FLASH VISION - Few hours ago

" _Well, since Henri is insisting in giving you guys a hard time, I really can't say I'm surprised that he insists that I may know something about those missing artifacts._ " Rempel sighed as his voice echoed as they gathered in his office.

Fred, Dee Dee, April, Biff and Henry all paused their lips and nodded as Garfield translated for them, then Dee Dee stepped forward.

"You don't suppose it's normal for Barbot to dump emotional baggage on others, eh?" Dee Dee asked.

"He can be the arrogant and bossy type." Rempel nodded. "With him in where he's at, it shouldn't be a surprise that he's dumping all the emotional baggage on others, especially when he's pressed on the whereabouts of those missing artifacts."

END FLASH VISION

"Baggage..." Garfield thought to himself.

It was then that Bubbles whispered, "Why did Mr. Rempel had a suitcase in his office when we were meeting with him earlier?"

At that remark, the group turned towards her.

"So that's where we've seen that dusty brown suitcase before!" Dee Dee said.

* * *

As the orchestra transitioned to the D minor _Furiant_ final movement, the group once again found themselves at the Prague Castle.

"Alright, now that we've recovered the crown jewels, we still have to figure out who was responsible for its theft." The police sergeant in charge said later as they carried the crown jewels back to the chamber room it was stored in.

Garfield paused his lips, then he turned towards the sergeant and shook his head.

"Actually, we don't have to, Sergeant." Garfield said.

"What do you mean?" The sergeant asked.

"Because we've had the culprit responsible already captured and in your custody." Garfield said simply.

"But we didn't find any evidence to suggest that the count knew anything about the stolen crown jewels." The sergeant frowned.

"We didn't when we captured him." Fred corrected. "But while searching around the castle, we found something that ties him to the theft."

"Along with revelations that is gonna cause a firestorm and some political embarrassment in the kingdom, something that I'm sure the Chancellor and Kaiser in Vienna won't be pleased to learn about." Garfield said.

"Owing to the crown prince's involvement in an affair that the count found out on, and the king was desperate to keep it under wraps until the divorce was finalized." Velma said.

"Not to mention millions of krones earmarked for a major arts program in the castle were misplaced and spent on lavish parties hosted by the King." Shelly said.

"The King, having had been no stranger to similar controversies, intended to frame the count for the embezzlement." Suzie nodded. "And the count, being the arts program manager, decided to get even by stealing the crown jewels and embarrass the King."

"Explaining the postcard from Brownville, Maine attached with a photo of the crown prince and his mistress, along with a note signed with the initials MR." Garfield nodded as well. "MR, which turns out to be a swap of the first and last letters in the counts own initials, RM."

* * *

"Brownville..." Garfield thought to himself. "Brownville..."

His eyes widened when he realized where he had seen the place name before, his mind once again flashing back.

GARFIELD'S FLASH VISION - Few hours ago

As Rempel was speaking, Garfield glanced around the office as he adjusted his wedge cap slightly, during which he noticed a CP Rail train ticket for the _Atlantic Limited_ sitting on the desk.

"But anyways, the interim general manager has told me that the office will be ready for me in a week's time." Rempel continued as his voice echoed. "So I'll be out of town for some relaxation for the next few days."

While Rempel's voice echoed, Garfield paused as he remembered what the train ticket said.

"Origin: Windsor Station  
Departure Time: 21:00

Destination: Brownville Junction  
Arrival Time: 23:10"

Garfield also realized that there was only one train ticket, meaning that the trip to Brownville wasn't going to be a round trip.

END FLASH VISION

"MR a reversal of the initials RM..." April frowned.

"MR..." Brenda thought before her eyes widened. "...Milton Rempel!"

As Garfield guided the orchestra through the stormy finale of the suite, his mind flashed as he pieced together what they've brainstormed earlier.

"The dusty brown suitcase in Rempel's office...the alias Roberto B. Morton whose initials is an anagram of Rempel's initials...and the one-way train ticket to Brownville, Maine!" Garfield thought to himself, and his mouth hung open.

"That crook!" Fred whispered in realization. "He played us the same way Barbot had played us all along!"

"Yeah!" Dee Dee agreed. "We've always treated the embezzlement and the theft as one, not realizing that they were separate!"

"And he had those missing artifacts right under our noses the whole time!" Henry added.

April then glanced at her wrist watch and added, "And based on the train ticket Garfield saw on his desk, he's gonna be on the train that brings him out of the country in fifteen minutes!"

It was then that the timpani rolled while the orchestra played the final D minor note resoundingly, and the group looked up towards Garfield.

* * *

Over at Windsor Station, Rempel was making his way to the station platforms, accompanied by a station attendant loading his other baggage onto a cart.

" _Just be careful with the baggage._ " Rempel instructed the station attendant. " _There are fragile items in some of them._ "

The station attendant nodded, then he carried on through the lobby while Rempel glanced at the nearby clock.

It was 20:55, five minutes before his train to Saint John through upstate Maine departs.

With a grunt, Rempel followed the station attendant to the platforms.

Arriving at Platform 3, Rempel nodded as the station attendant began loading his baggage onto the train.

The reinstated prop master was about to board the train when a voice called out, "Monsieur Rempel!"

Rempel groaned and turned around, and his eyes narrowed as the group, accompanied by Garfield, Clouseau and Godbout walked towards him.

"What can I do for you all?" Rempel demanded. "My train to Brownville is about to leave in five minutes."

"Of course, we won't try to keep you for long, Mr. Rempel." Garfield said as he approached Rempel. "We just need to take a look at the suitcase you're holding here."

Rempel looked at his suitcase, then he looked at Garfield and narrowed his eyes.

"You're joking, right?" He asked.

"It won't take long, I promise." Fred said as he joined Garfield. "We just need to make sure that Barbot was actually telling the truth."

Rempel growled, but seeing Clouseau and Godbout, he relented and stepped back while the two investigators knelt down and opened the suitcase.

Everyone held their breaths as Garfield reached into the suitcase, then he took out what appeared to be a crown and showed it to Rempel.

" _Really?_ " Garfield narrowed his eyes. " _You really think you're leaving the country with these artifacts?_ "

" _It was your plan all along, wasn't it?_ " Clouseau demanded as he approached Rempel. " _Playing us for the fools we were, back when we thought that the embezzlement and theft of those artifacts across the city were linked._ "

" _Only that they weren't related._ " Godbout said. " _Barbot was in fact, responsible for the embezzlement, though he had no knowledge of your involvement in stealing these artifacts._ "

Realizing that the game is up, Rempel quickly took off running and jumped through the open door, shoving the train attendant in the process.

"Arrêtez!" (Stop!) Garfield barked as he quickly took off after the fugitive.

Immediately, the others quickly split up with Mystery Inc. following Garfield, the Chans and the Neptunes running down the platform while April, Skip and Augie joined Clouseau and Godbout in racing towards the locomotive at the front of the train, all as the Teen Angels kept watch on Rempel's discarded suitcase containing the incriminating evidence.

Looking over his shoulder during the run, Rempel continued to run towards the back of the train, shoving passengers and staff members out of the way as he did so.

By the time Garfield and the gang reached the gangway separating cars 4 and 5, they saw Rempel's legs struggling up as he climbed onto the rooftop of the railcars.

Sharing glances with each other, Garfield nodded at the gang and he swiftly pushed the gangway door open and followed Rempel onto the rooftop, while the gang quickly raced across the gangway and onto car 5.

As soon as Garfield climbed onto the roof, Rempel greeted him with a gunshot.

" _Shouldn't you be at your concert at the Théâtre Maisonneuve?_ " Rempel demanded as Garfield swiftly ducked the shot.

 _"15-minute intermission."_ Garfield responded as he stood his ground and kept his eyes on Rempel and the gun he was holding. " _Enough time for me to come by here and stop you from getting away with your theft and playing us the way you did._ "

"Huh." Rempel grunted as he fired another shot towards Garfield.

Before he knew it, Garfield suddenly swung his hand, and next thing he knew, the air cadet was holding the bullet with his left hand.

" _Nice try._ " Garfield growled before he gave Rempel a quick kick and instantly disarmed him. " _The game's up,_ Monsieur Rempel."

Rempel turned around, and when he saw Daphne approaching him, he quickly seized his chance and he quickly drew a knife and grabbed Daphne by the collar.

 _"I don't think so._ " Rempel growled, and Garfield only narrowed his eyes as the fugitive drew the blade right at Daphne's throat. " _One false move, this girl gets it!_ "

However, before either of them could respond, a "Slam!" can be heard, and the Rempel suddenly looked very foolish as he dropped the knife.

Then, the fugitive slumped onto the roof, all as Garfield and Daphne turned towards the source of the "Slam!"

Shaggy was gripping the frying pan he "borrowed" from the kitchen in the dining car, and the relief in his eyes was unmistakable after he used the frying pan on Rempel.

Seeing Shaggy, Garfield nodded as he shook his hand.

"That was perfect timing, Shag." Garfield said.

"More of an understatement." Daphne said as she smiled in relief at Shaggy, just as Scooby, Fred and Velma joined them.

* * *

A short while later, Platform 3 of Windsor Station was buzzed with law enforcement activity as police arrived to take Milton Rempel into custody.

"Well, what a way to clean up this whole case, guys." Fred declared.

"Oh yeah." Biff agreed as he high-fived Fred. "You guys sure deserve a break after all of this."

"Well, if it wasn't for you guys, we wouldn't have cleared this old case at all." Velma waved her hand.

"Don't be silly, you guys also played your parts in clearing the whole case as well." Dee Dee said. "We merely played our parts."

"Actually, most of the credit should go to Garfield." April pointed out. "He was the one who mainly thought the whole thing out regarding Rempel's endgame here."

"As Dee Dee said, I merely played my part, based on everything you guys have found." Garfield waved his hand as well. "I'm just glad that we finally have this case cleared for good."

"Yes indeed." Clouseau nodded. "Rempel sure put a lot of efforts into planning this whole scheme, playing on us thinking that the embezzlement and the theft of those artifacts were all linked."

"As well as preying on the binder suggesting that he was thrown under the bus by Barbot." Henry nodded.

"And in the end, turns out that while Barbot was indeed involved in last year's mess, he was only involved in the embezzlement part and the money-laundering that came with it." Clam said.

"While Rempel was indeed responsible for the theft of those artifacts." Shaggy nodded as they watched the police bagging and tagging the artifacts that Rempel had stored in his baggage, including the dusty brown suitcase.

"Right." Godbout nodded as well. "Now, we're in the preliminary stage of requesting that the Crown reopen its case against Rempel under the charge of grand larceny. As we continue to build our case and secure more evidence, more charges would be added to him."

Then, nodding at the police bagging and tagging the artifacts, Godbout added, "Though based on what we've got here, it looks like Rempel is going to spend a great deal of time behind bars."

At the mention of the word "time", everyone turned towards Garfield as he glanced at the nearby clock.

"Speaking of time, intermission is almost over!" Garfield said urgently. "We need to head back now!"

"Perhaps you all would like a police escort?" Clouseau asked.

"That will be greatly appreciated, Captain." Fred nodded.

* * *

 **One more chapter to go. Please read and review!**


	19. The final concert and epilogue

Chapter 19: The final concert and epilogue

By the time Garfield and the group returned to the Théâtre Maisonneuve, there was two minutes to go before the intermission ends.

"Finally, Wu." McGarrett remarked when he and a few cadets saw Garfield arriving at backstage. "We were getting a little worried that you were gonna miss the performance of your favourite Beethoven symphony."

"I wouldn't want to miss it in the world, McGarrett." Garfield smiled.

McGarrett nodded before he and the remaining cadets returned back onto the stage, and Garfield sighed as he adjusted his bowtie.

With a sigh, Garfield glanced at his watch and looked towards the stage.

Upon seeing the lights dimming out in the theatre, he turned towards Bédard and Hendricks, both of whom nodded firmly at him.

Nodding back at them, Garfield adjusted his hair before making his way onto the stage, during which the audience began to applaud.

After stepping onto the podium and bowing at the audience, Garfield turned back towards the orchestra.

He turned towards McGarrett, who nodded at him.

Nodding back, Garfield glanced at all of the cadets as he placed his hands up.

The group, seated at the front row seats, held their breaths as the cadets prepared their instruments.

Garfield nodded as the cadets were all set and ready to go, then he swung his hands down and the orchestra responded with the loud opening A major note of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony.

 **(I recommend listening to Beethoven's Seventh Symphony while reading this passage.)**

The orchestra started out with the long introduction, which was largely marked by Garfield gently gliding and waving his hands.

Much of the introduction was dominated by the oboe, with short brief segments interjected with a timpani strike and the strings as the played out single notes one by one, where the oboe was the main instrument connecting these brief segments.

"This symphony was dedicated to Count Moritz von Fries and premiered on December, 1813." Velma read. "It was part of a charity concert for the soldiers wounded in the Battle of Hanau."

"A battle that was part of the Napoleonic Wars, I presume." Suzie remarked.

"Yes, it was." Velma nodded. "In fact, the program also included a piece dedicated to Wellington's victory over Napoleon in the Battle of Vitoria in Spain in 1813."

"Beethoven sure held a grudge against Napoleon, a grudge that stemmed from a feeling of betrayal when Napoleon crowned himself Emperor." April said. "And if I remember correctly, it was that feeling of betrayal that led to Beethoven to revoke his dedication of his Third Symphony to Napoleon."

"Which then led to its current name _Eroica_." Velma said.

Everyone else nodded, during which Garfield started waving his hands slowly at the closing sections of the _Poco sostenuto_ segment of the movement, sections dominated by the flutes and the occasional strike of the timpani.

Then, the flute danced along in the transformation to the _Vivace_ segment, during which Garfield's right hand began to dance gently to the tune.

Marked by the dotted rhythms, Garfield's right hand continues to accompany the flute in the light dance, and then the right hand's light dance began to transcend into swings when the strings joined in, and then his left hand joins in with the swinging as the rest of the orchestra began to join in.

As Garfield swung both his hands while the entire orchestra repeats the main theme played by the flute in the opening of the _Vivace_ segment, the group shared glances with each other once again.

"Garfield sure looks like he's enjoying himself." Henry whispered.

"Yeah, and based on the way he's conducting this, like, I'm willing to bet that this is his most favourite Beethoven symphony." Shaggy nodded.

"I can sure see that." Augie agreed as they watched Garfield's hand swings turning into waves, during which he was leading the orchestra through the C major section of the _Vivace._

Several more minutes went by, which included brief sections repeating the theme in the opening of the segment, and then it was the closing sections of the first movement.

As the woodwinds held their E major notes while the strings lightly played a variation of the closing theme, Garfield had his right hand held high as he gently waved it.

That gentle wave soon transcend into larger hand swings as the orchestra gradually joins in, and then he was swing both hands intensively as the entire orchestra plays the closing A major theme, with the brass interjecting occasionally.

Eventually, his hands abruptly swung briefly for each of the final two notes of the movement, and then there was brief silence.

There were a few claps, though Garfield and the orchestra didn't take the time to acknowledge the claps, instead flipping their score books and catching their breaths as they adjusted their seats briefly.

"Why aren't you guys clapping?" Shelly, who briefly clapped, whispered.

"If I'm not mistaken, they only finished the first movement of this symphony and still has three more to go." Clam whispered back.

"Yeah." Tom agreed. "We're holding our applause for when they actually finish this whole symphony."

"And how long is this symphony in total?" Shelly asked.

"Around 40 minutes." Dee Dee answered.

Shelly deflated as she leaned onto her seat. "You're kidding."

"It's a symphony, Shelly." Biff said. "They typically last longer than the typical song or piece we often listen or perform. There are even symphonies that lasts at least an hour, if not longer."

Shelly whistled as she nodded thoughtfully, during which Garfield, after seeing that all of the cadets are on the same page as him, gently raised his hands again.

Once the cadets were ready, he swung his hands down, and the orchestra responded with the slow opening A minor key for the famous _Allegretto_ movement.

The opening was dominated by the movement's main theme played by the viola and the cello, which was then followed by the rest of the strings joining in with the drama of the movement building up.

It was clear that the movement was very dramatic, which was evidenced by the expression on Garfield's face as he waved his hands, and when the violins played their main parts, accompanied by the strike of the timpanis and the brass and woodwinds playing lightly in the background, his hands occasionally shook.

"This movement sounds like it fits the climax of a film." Shaggy whispered. "Like, the type that takes place with a time of crisis as the backdrop."

"Then, I suppose you won't be surprised to learn that this _Allegretto_ movement was very popular and had to be encored in the premiere." Velma remarked.

"Hmm." Shaggy nodded thoughtfully, during which Garfield began to swing his hands gently as the orchestra moved onto the A major section of the movement, a section largely dominated by the woodwinds, particularly with the clarinets.

"Sounds like a brief sun break in the midst of a storm." Skip remarked.

"I'll say." Alan nodded in agreement just as the strings descend back into the A minor scale.

Then, as the flutes repeated the main theme while the strings were charging along lightly in the background, Alan added, "And by the sound of things, the storm's brewing up again."

Skip nodded as they watched Garfield waving his hands, with the waving growing in intensity as the strings began charging along more intensively.

The movement once again reached its dramatic section, marked by the strings playing the main theme intensively with Garfield's hands swinging just as intensively.

The dramatic section eventually subsided, followed immediately by periods of calmness once again dominated by the woodwinds, calmness interjected by the sharp playing of the strings.

Eventually, the movement reached its quiet end, marked by the strings, slowly growing in volume, playing the final three notes, with the final A minor note accompanied by the brass and woodwinds playing the A minor note intensively.

Another brief moment of silence followed, during which the cadets once again flipped the score books, adjusting their seats slightly and taking a deep breath.

This time, there were no clapping from the audience and Garfield raised both his hands up once he was sure all the cadets were at the same page.

Once the cadets have their instruments prepared, Garfield then bounced his hands, and the orchestra, mainly the strings, woodwinds and the timpani, played the opening F major notes of the _Presto_ third movement.

Noting the way Garfield was bouncing his hands for the most part, particularly with the parts accompanied by the timpani strikes, Bubbles turned towards Shelly.

"Garfield looks like he's bouncing basketballs whenever that drum in the back strikes." Bubbles remarked.

"It's a timpani, Bubbles." Shelly replied. "But yes, he does look like he's dribbling basketballs."

"He sure is enjoying the movement." Stanley remarked as they watched Garfield waving his hands while the strings ascend and descend the F major notes.

A brief spiel into a minor key soon led to Garfield spiralling his hands down, during which a D major trio dominated by the woodwinds began playing for the _Assai meno presto_ section of the movement.

As the woodwinds played the trio, Garfield lightly swung his hands while the strings played lightly in the background with the occasional interjection.

That interjection soon shifted to the strings gradually taking over, and eventually repeating the trio, though more intensively and accompanied by a timpani roll, while the woodwinds now moved to the background.

Watching the expression on Garfield's face and the intense swinging of his hands, the group can tell that he really enjoyed the conducting.

Likewise, the expression on the cadets faces tells the group that they, too, are deeply enjoying performing the symphony.

The third movement was then dominated by a couple of repeats of the F major _Presto_ section, interjected by another repeat of the D major trios for the _Assai meno presto_ section.

The second repeat of the F major _Presto_ section then ended briefly with a D minor trio similar in style and rhythm to the _Assai meno presto_ section, followed by the sharp playing ascent of five notes in F major to end the movement.

Another brief moment of silence followed, during which the cadets once again flipped the score books, adjusting their seats slightly and taking a deep breath.

Once the cadets have their instruments prepared and Garfield had his hands up, he then swung them down sharply as the orchestra played the opening six notes of the A major _Allegro con brio_ final movement.

Following the opening six notes, the strings began to dominate the playing of the main theme, accompanied by Garfield's hard swing on the podium.

When the strings began to play the later section of the main theme, they were then accompanied by the sharp playing of the brass section and the timpani strikes, during which Garfield's hands rolled into fists and bounced them down with an imitation of the timpani strikes.

"Now I'm starting to get why Garfield may have chosen this symphony as the last piece he and the orchestra performs." Daphne remarked.

"Yep." Taffy nodded. "At the risk of repeating the others, he sure is enjoying himself a lot."

"I can say the same thing for the cadets." Brenda interjected.

"We can sure see that." Henry nodded. "And with the way this movement is structured and the orchestra's lively zipping along with it, this is probably the best way to end a symphony."

"Especially when you end it at a high note like this." Shaggy agreed before elbowing Scooby and added, "Get it?"

He and Scooby then laughed, though the Great Dane stopped laughing before remarking, "Ri don't get rit."

"Not just on a high note but also in a fiery way." Velma said.

By this point, the orchestra, mainly dominated by the strings and the brass, was going through the final F major section, which ended as the whole orchestra began to descend back down to the low A major notes.

It was then that the group can see the orchestra rumbling in the low A major notes, during which Garfield was seen gently bouncing his hands as the strings and the brass interjected with each other.

Then, the rumble began to grow louder before the strings began to break out of it, a shift that was accompanied by Garfield's hands waving and swinging more intensively and the increase of the intensity of the timpani rolls.

Eventually, the whole orchestra comes to life once more as the strings repeated the main theme, accompanied by interjections from the brass sections.

Watching the whole orchestra becoming deeply engaged, the group resisted the urge to stand up from their seats, especially with Garfield now swinging his hands very intensively, and then the brass began to dominate the closing theme of the movement, which was also marked by several more interjections of the timpani rolling and accompanied by the strings playing intensively in the background.

The strings then took over and fired through the triumphant closing section, interjected by the timpani rolling and the brass connecting the string parts, which was then followed by the whole orchestra joining in the ascent to the final A major note with Garfield waving his hands more intensively.

Once the orchestra wrapped off the performance of the whole symphony with the final four A major notes, there was a longer period of silence as Garfield kept his hands by his hips and glanced at the cadets.

Eventually, there was a loud cheer from the audience, and the whole theatre erupted into a loud applause as everyone began to stand up from their seats and clap their hands loudly.

Garfield eventually placed his hands down and motioned the whole orchestra to stand up, then he turned around to bow, during which several whistles can be heard from the audience.

"Woo-hoo!" Shaggy shouted as he clapped his hands.

"That was marvelous!" Daphne agreed as Shaggy whistled.

 **(The use of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony is inspired by the Japanese live action adaptation of the manga series _Nodame Cantabile_ , in which the symphony was the first piece in which the main protagonist leads an orchestra to perform in a concert.)**

As he bowed at the audience, several thoughts flooded through Garfield's mind, especially as he glanced at the group and saw them applauding loudly and Shaggy, Clam, Henry, Stanley, Augie and Skip whistling.

Those thoughts were mostly accompanied by flashbacks of the journey he had went through, not just with the orchestra but also with the Royal Canadian Air Cadets.

Snapshots of significant moments began flooding his mind, during which his eyebrows furrowed at the thoughts of those important milestones.

September 1965 - Garfield was sworn in as an air cadet in his old squadron in Scarborough. The surreal feeling he first felt when he received his uniform and wore it for the first time.

November 1965 - Him joining up in the squadron's drill team led to several improvements in his marching drills. He was also accepted into the youth orchestra that month and assigned as the second violin.

April 1966 - The youth orchestra's performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 left a deep impression on Garfield

July 1966 - The surreal feeling when he attended his very first summer camp in RCAF Station Trenton

September 1967 - As a corporal, he was transferred to the Uplands squadron following his moving to Ottawa and took on his first role as a non-commissioned officer in the wing.

September 1968 - Promoted to sergeant and took on his first major non-commissioned officer role, namely as the second-in-command of Flight 3, in addition he subsequently became the concertmaster of the youth orchestra two months later

August 1969 - Upon finishing the seven-week training in St. Hubert, Quebec, he received his pilot wings for glider, power wings to follow a year later.

September 1969 - Promoted to flight sergeant, he commanded his first flight

August 1970 - Encountered Mystery Inc. for the first time while at the Ottawa SuperEX, during which he was responsible for commanding a drill demonstration team at the recruit centre

March 1971 - After WO1 Douglas McBean aged out, WO2 Garfield Wu took over as the cadet conductor of the youth orchestra. First piece he conducted was Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, which he deeply enjoyed

As Garfield turned around and faced the orchestra, he almost felt overwhelmed by the sight of the cadets applauding him, and then as he glanced towards backstage, he saw Bédard and Hendricks clapping with proud smiles on their faces.

* * *

 _May 17, 1972_

"Come on, Shaggy!" Fred urged as they sat in a restaurant that day. "You can do it!"

"Oh no you don't!" Skip shouted. "Show Shag how its done, bro!"

"Come on, Clamhead!" Shelly shouted. "Don't let that pencilneck beat you by a landslide!"

"Cavey, you can do it!" Brenda urged.

Garfield and the Chan Clan shared glances with each other as they watched Shaggy, Augie, Clam and Cavey engaged in an eating contest in the restaurant.

At present, the main course being served for the contest was poutine, and by the looks of it, Garfield estimated that the poutine the four were competing in finishing first can feed at least thirty people.

"You know, those guys will never cease to amaze me." Garfield remarked as they watched the four eating their large poutines.

"I agree." Suzie nodded. "With all those cheese curds and gravy, not to mention the fries, I don't know how their stomachs can handle it."

"Search me." Velma remarked. "One bright side is that with those four, particularly Shaggy, you will never have to worry about throwing out unfinished food."

"True." Stanley agreed.

Garfield paused his lips as he turned his attention back to the contest, and after several more minutes of eating, Shaggy was the first to finish his oversized poutine.

"We have a winner!" The attending chef declared as he placed his left hand on Shaggy's shoulder, and Shaggy raised his hands up in victory.

The group cheered loudly, and Shaggy bowed while the chef clapped his hands.

"Way to go, Shag!" Daphne shouted.

"You sure rock, Shagster!" Henry agreed.

Garfield only nodded and smiled as he clapped his hands, then he noticed the calendar on the nearby wall and thought of something.

While the contestants finished up, Garfield gathered Fred, April, Biff, Henry and Dee Dee together.

"Guys, there's an invitation I would like to extend to you all." Garfield said. "Something I've been thinking about since last night's concert."

"Sure thing, Garfield." April nodded. "What is it?"

* * *

 _May 28, 1972_

It was a warm Sunday afternoon at RCAF Station Rockcliffe in Ottawa when the group arrived for the annual passout parade.

Upon parking their respective vehicles at the visitors, they were all directed to the parade site and joined the crowd of families and friends that were also attending the parade.

"It was sure swell of Garfield to invite us to watch the parade." Taffy remarked as they all took their seats.

"Yes, especially since this is gonna be his last parade before he ages out." Daphne nodded.

"Say, what does 'age out' mean?" Bubbles asked.

"It means that you're turning 19, which is the age limit in the air cadets." Alan explained.

Eventually, the whole 6th Wing marched onto the parade square, and the group looked on as the senior command-level cadet warrant officers changed positions before it was Garfield's turn to take command of the wing for one last time.

Following the marching on of the wing's flag party and saluting the chair of the wing's sponsoring committee, the parade reached its defining moment when the reviewing officer was introduced.

There was some surprise from the gang when the outgoing Chief of the Defence Staff, an air chief marshal, was introduced.

"Wow, I guess Garfield's really aging out on a high note." Velma remarked as Garfield and the senior wing, squadron and flight commanders saluted.

"Who's the guy?" Skip asked.

"He's the Chief of the Defense Staff, who's the highest ranking general, flag or air officer in the entire Canadian Armed Forces." Velma explained. "He's like the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the States."

"Ah, I see." Skip nodded.

Eventually, following the inspections and the march past, the group joined the rest of the audience in applauding when awards were getting handed out.

The applause was more pronounced when Garfield was called up, and even though they couldn't see him clearly from their seats, the gang can tell that Garfield was feeling very proud and accomplished.

As the air chief marshal pinned a couple of medals onto Garfield's dress tunic, accompanied by camera flashes and handshakes, the scene shifted towards the sky.

A formation of five Avro Arrow fighter jets can be seen flying above, and the scene followed the direction of the fighter jets before eventually settling onto the trees in the distance, gently swaying against the light afternoon wind.

* * *

 **And so concludes the case and the adventures of the gang while a new chapter awaits Garfield.**

 **The adventures of Mystery Inc. continues in _D4 Sergeant Scooby's Lonely Hearts Club Band_ , while the adventures of Garfield Stephenson Wu continues in my FictionPress story _D4 Rush Hour in Hong Kong!_ , so stay tuned!**

 **To all of my readers in Canada, Happy Canada Day!**

 **Please read and review!**


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